This photograph, taken during the centennial celebration of Hungary's National Film Institute studios — built by Sir Alexander Korda and where Janos Edelenyi, writer-director of PLANTAGO, shot his farewell film, RICHARD II —captures the essence of the project.
Although separated by more than sixty years, both men left Hungary to escape political oppression, a recurring theme in Hungarian history.
Inspired by true events and set in the early 1980s, PLANTAGO follows aspiring Hungarian filmmaker Jonah as he leaves his homeland carrying the screenplay of his dream project: a film about his idol, Sir Alexander Korda. Under Hungary's communist regime, however, no film celebrating a "capitalist mogul" could ever be made.
Jonah's journey first takes him to Vienna, where a renowned literary agent offers him success — provided he is willing to rewrite not only his screenplay but, ultimately, himself. Refusing the compromise, Jonah continues alone to Hollywood, accompanied only by the imagined presence of Alexander Korda.
n Hollywood he encounters producers and agents eager to reshape his film into something more commercial, replacing both its subject and its soul. Every apparent opportunity demands another compromise, forcing Jonah to choose between professional success and artistic integrity.
Instead of finding his future in Hollywood, Jonah discovers the people who truly believe in him in the Canadian prairies. There, friendship, generosity and renewed purpose allow him to continue both his film and his own journey of self-discovery. The film Jonah sets out to make gradually becomes the film he must live.
The film Jonah sets out to make gradually becomes the film he must live. Half a century later, that story has become PLANTAGO.
