KK's post-Brexit Film Fest a success
Published on: Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: British expatriates and Malaysians thronged the State capital's 17th European Union Film Festival (EUFF), among others, post-Brexit since last Friday. The last two shows to be screened tonight (Wednesday) features film titles "Windstorm" in German and "Brides" in Greek with English subtitles.The films, a projection of soft power from Europe, is well received – being the last film festival to be featured in Sabah this year after the Borneo Eco, Freedom Fest, Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival, Japanese and China Film Festivals, among others, that helped to put Kota Kinabalu on the film tourism map for Bruneians and in the Kalimantan BIMP-EAGA region.
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These film festivals elicit intellectual conversions among like-minded fans, for example, after the first 17th EUFF film 'Children of Glory' last Friday, comments like: "that's how Russia is behaving nowadays (over Crimea)" was heard among other serious discussions.It was shown as a romantic film with the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 or the Hungarian Uprising of 1956 in the background context, a nationwide revolt against Soviet-imposed policies, which lasted from October 23 to November 10, 1956.On October 24, 1956, Imre Nagy – a moderate and a westerniser – took over as Prime Minister. Nagy asked Soviet leader Khrushchev to move the Russian troops out. Khrushchev agreed and on October 28, 1956, the Russian army pulled out of Budapest.
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For five days, there was freedom in Hungary. The new Hungarian government introduced democracy, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. Cardinal Mindszenty, the leader of the Catholic Church, was freed from prison.Then, on November 3, 1956, Nagy announced that Hungary was going to leave the Warsaw Pact.
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However, Khrushchev was not going to allow this. He claimed he had received a letter from Hungarian Communist leaders asking for his help.At dawn on November 4, 1956, 1,000 Russian tanks rolled into Budapest. They destroyed the Hungarian army and captured Hungarian Radio the last words broadcast were, "Help! Help! Help!". Hungarian people – even children – fought the Russian troops. Some 4,000 Hungarians were killed. Khrushchev put in Russian supporter, Janos Kadar, as Prime Minister.Water polo teams of Hungary and the Soviet Union were destined to clash at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, just a month after the Communist superpower brutally crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The semi-final match took place on December 6 and saw Hungary defeat the Soviets 4-0. The historic battle is also known as the "Blood in the Water" match since Hungarian player Ervin Zádor had his face hit with blood pouring from above his eye after being punched by Russia's Valentin Prokopov.Seconds before the final whistle, Hungary was leading 4-0. Zádor was marking Valentin Prokopov, with whom he had already confronted several times. Tensions were extremely high in the arena when Prokopov struck the Hungarian, causing a bleeding gash. Zádor left the pool and his bleeding was the final straw for a crowd already in frenzy. Pictures of Zádor's injuries were published around the world, leading to the "Blood in the Water" moniker. Hungary later beat Yugoslavia 2-1 in the final to win their fourth Olympic gold medal.The lessons are if the people are brave, even the Soviet Union, a superpower would succumb to the people's will for freedom. The Olympic victory showed that, on equal terms, even those who would otherwise be prevented by global powers from winning could indeed triumph.Despite the Soviet army's crushing of the Hungarian freedom fight in November, the desire of Hungarians for freedom was not extinguished and resistance remained strong for quite some time.Sixty years ago today, the Hungarian Revolution was brutally crushed by Soviet forces. The revolutionaries were defeated, some of them were killed, some were imprisoned, while hundreds of thousands fled as refugees and those who remained saw the return of Communism for a short while, before Hungary was freed from Communism after the collapse of the Soviet Union.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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