HIS MASTER'S VOICE

Cult director Györgi Pälfi (HUKKLE, TAXIDERMIA) gives outer space a voice in this unorthodox Stanisław Lem adaptation. In developing his screenplay, Pälfi embedded Lem’s philosophical original text dating from 1968 into a narrative framework set in the present day. Budapest resident Péter is pushing forty. Perusing the web one day, he believes he recognises his father, who vanished many years before, in a video posted online by an American conspiracy theorist. His dad, a physicist, left Hungary in the 1970s, which was considered a criminal offence by the Communist regime of the day. Egged on by his brother Zsolt, Péter travels to the USA and not only manages to find his father – he also meets the latter’s new, second family, including his half-brother, leading a life of privilege. As it turns out, Péter’s father was actively involved in a secret research project known as “Operation His Master’s Voice”. The participating scientists discovered a method of communicating with outer space, but alas a series of mysterious accidents led to the decommissioning of the entire project. In a whimsical fashion, this cinematic reflection on media regularly blurs the boundaries between science fiction and family drama, as well as those between Hungary, America and the cosmos at large.