Hungarian short film ‘Sing’ (Mindenki) by Kristóf Deák has won an Academy Award in the category of Live Action Shorts, it was announced in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The 25-minute short film has become the first film directed by a Hungarian to secure a win in the category. Moreover, it is the second Hungarian film that earned the Academy Award in a year.

The story of the film takes place in Budapest in 1991. According to the director, it is inspired by a true story, and “follows an award-winning school choir, their charming teacher and the new girl in class whose arrival starts a series of events that might expose the dark truth behind their fame.” The film stars two child-actors, Dorka Gáspárfalvi and Dorottya Hais, while the teacher is played by Zsófia Szamosi. Sing is only the second Hungarian live-action short film to receive an Oscar nomination; the first was 1963’s Concert, directed by István Szabó, who would go on to direct Mephisto, Hungary’s first Foreign Language Film Oscar winner.

The Hungarian film made the Oscar nomination shortlist after – along with the four other films nominated – beat out 70 other short films from all over the world. However, Sing has already had a great degree of international success before its nomination: the film won the Grand Prix prize at the Short Shorts Film Festival in Tokyo, the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival’s Kids category, and the Adult Jury Prize in the Live-action Short Film category at the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. Sing’s success is an amazing recognition for the Hungarian film industry, since it has followed in the footsteps of László Nemes’ Son of Saul, which won the Oscar for best foreign language film last year.

via origo.hu, hirado.hu and MTI; photos: AFP/MTI