The Girl (a.k.a. The Day Has Gone)(Eltávozott nap)

For her debut fiction feature, Mészáros crafts a candid yet profound portrait of a young woman searching for her own sense of identity, laced with socialist and feminist concerns that would become a hallmark of her oeuvre. Prominent rock singer Kati Kovács brings an inner intensity to her role as Erzsi, a self-aware girl living in an orphanage in Budapest who sets out to reconnect with her birth mother. A minutely observed character study with chaste sensitivity, it’s at once a woman’s inward gaze evoking self-discovery, and her outward perception of a society experiencing contrast between provincial tradition and developing modernity.

Valladolid International Film Festival: Jury Special Prize