The Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest won a Silver Hugo award at the Chicago International Film Festival for their promotional film "Lisztery". The film had a low budget but was able to effectively promote the Academy using innovative filmmaking techniques. Imre Szabó Stein, the Director of Communications at the Academy, and film director Dávid Géczy discuss the film's success and their approach to rebranding the Academy's image and attracting new and younger audiences to classical music.

1. The main question of the entire project
was: can we make a defining ad with the
involvement of filmmakers, using filmic
techniques, on a low-budget basis?
LISZT ACADEMY’S IMAGE SPOT ‘LISZTERY’ WON THE SILVER HUGO AWARD
AT THE PRESTIGIOUS CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL TELEVISION
AWARDS IN THE INSTITUTIONAL AND CORPORATE IDENTITY COMMERCIALS
CATEGORY. IT’S NOT BY CHANCE THAT THE SHORT FILM, BROADCAST NOT ONLY
TO DOMESTIC TV VIEWERS BUT BBC AND MEZZO AUDIENCES AS WELL, HAS
RECEIVED CONSIDERABLE INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION: ITS ORIGINAL CONCEPT
AND THE MESSAGE THAT IT CONVEYS ARE ENTIRELY NEW IN THE FIELD OF CLAS-
SICAL MUSIC. IMRE SZABÓ STEIN, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, MARKET-
ING AND MEDIA CONTENTS DEVELOPMENT OF LISZT ACADEMY AND DÁVID
GÉCZY, DIRECTOR OF THE IMAGE SPOT ‘LISZTERY’ TALK ABOUT THEIR INNOVA-
TIVE APPROACH AND OPENING UP TO NEW AUDIENCES.
WHAT DOES WINNING THIS AWARD
MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY?
Imre Szabó-Stein: First of all, it is indeed a strong
reinforcement that art is not coded by money: this is
a low budget film. Secondly, it proves that the men-
tal extension, my vision about involving younger
generations in classical cluster is relevant. Thirdly, it
is really thrilling to see that art is a language that is
understood best when there is no direct selling pro-
posal. Last but not least, my original idea of provo-
cation with one single however powerful gesture
works if it is wrapped in careful, stylish film lan-
guage. I wanted to share my vision with film artists,
and the cohabitation worked. So, it is also about the
success of integrating different sorts of talent.
Dávid Géczy: I don’t usually measure the value of
anything by the number of awards it gets. I guess
my distrust towards prizes in general stems from
certain childhood memories: when I was a kid,
I would eagerly await award ceremonies so I
could root for my favourite actors or directors,
and when they were not the ones who won, I was
utterly disappointed. But I have been working in
this field for a while now and I’ve come to un-
derstand that prestigious awards can play a very
important role in furthering your career. With
this in mind, I am very grateful that the award
that we got is an American award. Don’t take
this the wrong way, but I believe that there are
a lot of “artsy” awards in Europe, meaning that
the films that win aren’t necessarily well liked
by the audience – or even liked by them at all
– but they represent the taste of a professional
elite. Or, they bring something entirely new to
the table that may not still be of value in a few
years’ time. In the case of several awards given
out in Cannes, Locarno or Berlin, I do not feel
that are well-deserved. Unfortunately, our ties
with America are basically non-existent, so this
award came as a pleasant surprise.
WHAT DO YOU THINK GRASPED THE JU-
RY’S ATTENTION?
THE
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2. Dávid Géczy: I’m sure that the institution’s world-
wide renown and the appearance of the globally
acknowledged Liszt played an important role,
but I think they sensed that this was not a tradi-
tional approach to classical music or the Academy
itself, but the unique visual realization of a very
new and unconventional concept. And it’s not just
the film’s dynamic visual content that shows in-
novation, but the soundtrack as well: composer
Bence Kutrik wrote a score especially for the film
that is modern, progressive and melodious – in
other words, commercially viable – at the same
time. It encapsulates everything that the Music
Academy can call its own. I think that the jury
appreciated the fact that we chose not to use a
composition by Liszt or Chopin, but to go with a
newly written piece that belongs to the talents of
the Academy, who appear in the film themselves.
Imre Szabó Stein: The main question of the entire
project was: can we make a defining ad with the
involvement of filmmakers, using filmic tech-
niques, on a low-budget basis? In our application,
we let the jury know about our objectives and our
limited financial resources, and I can imagine
that this factor may have impacted their decision.
However I really believe that the real factors of
the decision were the original idea and concept
coming from me and the reflecting and sensitive
filming coming from David’s crew.
REDEFINING THE ACADEMY’S PUBLIC
IMAGE HAS BEEN AT THE TOP OF YOUR
AGENDA FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS. HOW
DID THIS PROCESS START AND WHAT
ARE THE RESULTS SO FAR?
Imre Szabó Stein: The process of comprehensive-
ly redefining the image of the Academy began
in 2013, the year when I started working at the
Academy. Since then, the institution that was 138
years old at the time has been given a new logo, a
new website, and a series of new publications. The
image film is a direct follow-up to these changes.
Last year we have already received a prestigious
prize, the Red Dot Design Award in the corporate
identity category, honouring the Academy’s new
image. From the very beginning, my team and I
have been experimenting with conveying what I
think is the most important message of the en-
tire classical music show business today: that what
happens inside the concert hall of a music centre
like ours is something that is unexpectedly excit-
ing. You don’t have to be a music historian to ap-
preciate it, and you have no reason to be afraid of
it. In fact, the catharsis of the musical experience
can be much greater than at a hard-rock concert.
I believe that the greatest challenge that the clas-
sical music industry faces is getting through to
young adults and middle-aged intellectuals who
are just one step away from letting themselves be
engulfed by the this world that sparks their curios-
ity but is still largely unknown to them. They are
potential concert-goers, but the practice is not part
of their lives just yet. And daring to finally reach
out to them is what makes our film unique. What
we’ve started to accomplish in terms of institu-
tional identity is truly unparalleled, even on an
international level. Even though they are dealing
with the same problems, not one of the great music
centres like Southbank Centre or Carnegie Hall
has decided to take a step in this direction yet.
HOW DID VIEWERS INITIALLY REACT TO
THE FILM?
Imre Szabó Stein: The film got excellent reviews
from the public, especially the internet commu-
nity, however, within the classical music environ-
ment, its reception was mixed. In fact, the film’s
approach started heavy debate. Two basic views
clash: one believes in accentuating tradition and
patina, the other considers progression and equally
important factor. Of course, I support the latter
claim. And I also think that an ad that has a very
specific goal and that is no more than a concentrate
cannot possibly grasp the Academy in its entirety,
nor does it aspire to do so. How could more than a
hundred years of prestige be reflected in a worthy
way in forty seconds anyway? What is more, Liszt
himself was a huge innovator: he was the one to in-
vent institutional communication in classical music
as it is, and he also introduced star culture for the
first time in this field. I firmly believe that if Liszt
could see this film, he would appreciate it.
DID DÁVID HANDLE THE TASK LIKE YOU
EXPECTED HIM TO?
Imre Szabó Stein: I strongly believe that Dávid is
a very talented director who will be making suc-
cessful feature films one day, and even though in
this case, he started out as a bit of an outsider,
meaning that he’s not working for the Academy,
he had absolutely no trouble handling things.
Making a statement in a current and adequate
matter of classical music is a tough job for a film
director. Instructing musicians is a difficult task
in itself: the twelve young musicians who were
on the stage on the day of the filming will each
be successful soloists in a few years, and they can
sense very quickly whether someone has the abil-
ity to command authority or not. If they cannot
establish that connection with a conductor, for in-
stance, that conductor will never become a maes-
tro in their eyes – and it is much the same with a
director “conducting” them on a film set.
HOW DID THE FILMING GO?
Dávid Géczy: The filming was done in an uncon-
ventional way too. We announced a special con-
cert and asked the audience to stay for an hour
or so after it ended, so that we could film some
footage for the image film. We were basically re-
lying on their patience and generosity to complete
the filming. We played the newly written score for
I believe that the greatest challenge that the
classical music industry faces is getting through
to young adults and middle-aged intellectuals
who are just one step away from letting themselves
be engulfed by the this world that sparks their
curiosity but is still largely unknown to them.
DÁV ID GÉCZ Y
IMRE SZABÓ STEIN
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PhotobyÁkosStiller
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3. them, filmed their emotional reactions to it and
asked them to act out a standing ovation. They
were very kind and cooperative, so it turned out to
be a wonderful experience. Had we wanted to hire
extras to play an audience of hundreds of people,
we would have had to go way over our budget.
LOOKING AT THE ACADEMY’S SHORT
FILM AS A PART OF YOUR DIRECTOR’S
OEUVRE: WHAT IS A COMMON TRAIT
THAT THIS FILM AND YOUR PREVIOUS
WORKS SHARE?
Dávid Géczy: Those who have seen a number of
my short films or ads say that there is an incred-
ible amount of energy in my work, and that the
amount of effort I put into making them really
shows. I think that energy and dynamism are
what define this film as well. I really wanted to
reveal the path of the music, I wanted to climb
right inside the brass instrument, I wanted to
spin the camera around the piano and I wanted
to descend upon the musicians from up above.
I wanted to grasp all the angles that could
not possible be grasped by a conventional TV
broadcast of a classical music concert. I think
that I’ve managed to achieve this by putting
the emphasis on rhythm, the virtuosity of the
camera and the opportunities provided by the
magnificent location.
WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH
CLASSICAL MUSIC AS A FILM DIRECTOR?
Dávid Géczy: I only ever use classical music in my
films when the particular piece is somehow con-
nected to the story of the film on a thematic level,
when it resonates with the film’s message. That’s
the approach that I’ve seen in the films of the
greatest directors. Whenever I hear the first notes
of a classical tune in a film, I start searching for a
secondary meaning. And when I’m making a film,
I always try to look for a musical extract from an
opera or a classical composition that could reflect
what I want to say with the film.
I really wanted to reveal the path of the
music, I wanted to climb right inside the
brass instrument, I wanted to spin the camera
around the piano and I wanted to descend
upon the musicians from up above.
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