Bhubaneswar, Oct. 21: Lack of participation and funds have clipped wings of the Film Society of Bhubaneswar’s annual festival.

From a full-fledged three-day festival, the society has curtailed its annual celebration to evening screenings. The screenings that began today at Jayadev Bhavan auditorium will be a retrospective of Hungarian new-wave filmmakers.

The screenings will focus on the works of three eminent filmmakers. On the inaugural day, it was Károly Makk. The first film of the filmmaker to be screened was Love (1971) that narrates the tale of a woman, whose husband has been arrested by intelligence agencies. The film to follow would be A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda (2003). A 20-minute interview of the director will also be shown.

The second day will present the works of István Szabó. The director is known for rendering a different manner of narrative with the use of flashbacks, dream sequences and symbolism. Confidence, directed by him in 1980, will be shown first. The film tells the story of a couple, who attempts to flee from the Nazi prisons during the World War II. The second film to be screened will be Father (1966). The 90-odd minute film is a coming of the age story of the protagonist, who is trying to come in terms with his father’s absence.

The concluding day will focus on the works of Miklós Jancsó. His films over the decades have aptly captured scenes of oppression. The first film to be screened will be a drama titled Confrontation (1968), followed by the screening of Red Psalm (1971).

Talking about the theme, president of the society Subas Das said: “Comparatively, the Hungarian filmmakers are no less in terms of quality, but their works have not got the kind of recognition they deserve. We would show both black and white and colour films of the directors, so that viewers can see their proficiency in various types of presentations.”

Till last year, the society had been organising a festival that included daylong screenings followed by deliberations. But this year, the affair will only be limited to couple of screenings each evening. “The purpose of the festival was for cinema aficionados to come, take part in screenings and discussions, brainstorm and learn. But, we observed that the festival for them was more of recreation. Since only a handful showed interest, we decided to have only screenings keeping our limited budget in mind,” Das said. Though the society has about 150-odd members, hardly 50 people turn up for its monthly screenings.