Genesis (Genezis)

(2018, feature, digital, color, 120 minutes)

Árpád Bogdán’s new film provides a dramatic depiction of sin, catharsis and rebirth. The story of Genesis is formed around the fate of a young Roma boy, whose childhood reaches a sudden and drastic end when he loses his family in a tragic and brutal attack. Already buried in her work, a young female lawyer succumbs to pressure from her superior and undertakes the defence of one of the men facing trial for the part he reputedly played in this infamous series of racist murders. It is while researching the case that she comes into contact with the young boy, called as a witness, and this chance meeting changes both their lives forever. A mysterious teenage girl also becomes involved when her boyfriend’s dark secrets come to light.

With strong biblical roots, the story is told via the journeys of very different individuals from completely separate sections of society whose paths never cross but whose fates become intricately entwined as they twist through the shadow cast by this horrendous crime.

The protagonists in Genesis decide their various fates based on the universal human values of faith in life, solidarity and responsibility, and each is then presented with the chance of a new beginning, a new life.