Adoption(Örökbefogadás)

This sensitive and absorbing slice-of-life drama anchors Mészáros in the pantheon of formidable auteurs, rewriting film history as the first female director to win the Berlinale Golden Bear. Through a chance encounter, a lonely widow and a troubled teenager who escapes from a children’s home are brought together, developing a bond that edges towards a mercurial mutual affection and fulfilment. Delicately encapsulated under her daring facial close-ups are tremulous, unforgettable faces: fatigued yet adamant, confused yet defiant, revealing the weary incandescence of women’s lives that are unorthodox and barely seen in Hungarian cinema of the time.

Berlin International Film Festival: Golden Bear for Best Film