On April 12, 2026, Péter Magyar won the Hungarian elections. The controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was forced to step down. To find out just how strong Orbán’s grip on the country had become over the course of sixteen years, Nicolaas Veul set up a special hotline and set out to uncover the stories behind it.
This is the film version of the series 'Hotline Hungary', in which three episodes have been condensed into a single documentary.
Early 2026, Nicolaas Veul reached out to ordinary Hungarians: What is life like under the controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orbán? To find out, Nicolaas set up a special hotline. It struck a chord with Hungarians, and the call went viral. Within a week, Nicolaas received nearly a thousand messages from Hungarians about the harsh realities of daily life under Orbán. Taken together, the responses form a cry for help from a people slowly drifting away from the EU. Nicolaas embarked on a road trip through Hungary. He followed up on the stories from the hotline for this documentary.
To ensure the anonymity of the contributors, we re-recorded the original hotline messages with actors.
Directors: Stephane Kaas Nicolaas Veul
Research: Roos van Ees Noémi Hatala
Camera: Jackó van ’t Hof
Sound: Gideon Bijlsma Editors: Femke Klein Obbink Jouke Dubel Archive researcher: Paula Witkamp Graphic design: Frederik Vorderhake Robin Zwiep Colour grading: Gerhard van der Beek Audiomix: Mark Meewis Production Assistants: Tim Wiesner Leonard Peters Producers: Marie Schutgens Britt Bennink Editor in Chief Stan van Engelen
Archive: AP Archive, Facebook Péter Magyar, Telex.hu, YT channel Orbán Viktor, The White House
Special thanks to: Sasha Haasnoot, Marijn Kruk, Tijn Sadée.
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