Just over 40 seconds into Democracy Noir, Connie Field’s documentary examining modern Hungary, its central theme comes into focus.
Following striking shots of the Danube and Budapest, Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister and the film’s main subject, introduces himself in English to activists, followed by clips of him speaking warmly with Vladimir Putin—and later shaking hands with a grinning Donald Trump.
Observant viewers will recognize the implicit message: this is not simply about the politics of a modestly sized European nation.
Instead, the 90-minute film—debuting in the U.S. this week—depicts Orbán’s gradual erosion of democratic institutions through the perspectives of three women: opposition politician Timea Szabó, journalist Babette Oroszi, and nurse Niko Antal. Its themes carry broader significance for American audiences confronting the aftermath of Trump’s influence.
“I’d call this the most timely film I’ve made,” said Field, an acclaimed director whose past work covers South Africa’s apartheid collapse, the U.S. civil rights movement, and the My Lai massacre.
“One of our greatest global threats today is the decline of democracy. People see it as an abstract idea, but it’s not. It’s the best system we have to advance true equality.”
Field, whose husband is Hungarian, began documenting events in Hungary after witnessing a 2014 protest in Budapest’s Liberty Square. Demonstrators opposed a government-backed memorial they said misrepresented Hungary’s wartime role by portraying it as a victim rather than acknowledging its alliance with Nazi Germany.
Her initial focus was Hungary’s democratic regression—an EU and NATO member where Orbán has rewritten constitutional rules, weakened judicial and academic independence, and entrenched his rule.
However, Trump’s rise—and his alignment with Orbán—has made the issue deeply pertinent in the U.S. Some of Trump’s allies now cite Hungary as a model. Orbán visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago three times in 2024, including after Trump’s election win over Kamala Harris. Meanwhile, the pro-Trump group CPAC has hosted multiple events in Budapest.
Yet sensitivities around Orbán’s ties to Trump are evident in Washington D.C., where the film’s distributor, Clarity Films, has struggled to secure a local cinema willing to screen it.
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