Géza Szőcs, state secretary responsible for culture, visited Berlin at the weekend, where he attended several meetings during the period of the film festival. On Sunday, 13 February, he carried on discussions with his German colleague, Bernd Neumann, federal minister of culture, on strengthening the Hungarian-German cultural relations, with special regard to movies and digitalization.

Furthermore, the state secretary responsible for culture carried on negotiations with Mr. Benoît Ginisty, Director General of the International Federation of Film Producers as well. From this year on the Hungarian Audiovisual Producers Association will also become a member of the Federation.

In Saturday evening 12 February Géza Szőcs took part in the inauguration of Cinema Total, an event organized for the fourth time by Collegium Hungaricum in Berlin, on the occasion of Berlinale. The patrons of the event were Igor Slobodnik, Ambassador of Slovakia in Germany and Dr. József Czukor, Ambassador of Hungary in Germany. Furthermore, the event was attended by Claudia Schmied, Head of the Ministry of Culture and Education, Austria, Andrew G. Vajna, Government Commissioner for the Hungarian Film Industry, Ivo Viskovic, Ambassador of Serbia in Berlin as well as the chiefs of several European film institutes and film organizations.

(State Secretariat responsible for Culture)