Feature Narratives · India Premiere

Budapest Diaries Dziennik Z Wycieczki Do Budapesztu

Directed by Rafael Kapelinski

Screening at DIFF 2026

Thu29 10:30 AM to 12:27 PMThursday 29 Oct · PictureTime 1

Plan it in the app

Opens the free DIFF 2026 app. It checks for clashes and adds walking time between screens.

Runtime: 117 min
Year: 2025
Countries: Hungary, Poland
Language: French, Hungarian, Polish, Russian
Subtitles: English
Premiere: India

Synopsis

December 1981. As Poland teeters on the edge of collapse, eleven-year-old Irek leaves his country with his mother, fleeing shortages and political fear. Trapped on a bus bound for Budapest, the journey becomes a claustrophobic trial where tension, violence, and survival instincts erupt. In Hungary, safety proves fragile. Faced with exile in Paris or a solitary return to Poland to find the father he left behind, Irek must make an irreversible choice. Through a child’s eyes, the film explores how history fractures families, and how growing up can happen in a single, brutal moment.

Director

Rafael KapelinskiRafael Kapelinski was born in Poland and has lived and worked internationally. He studied filmmaking at Andrzej Wajda Post-Graduate Master School of Film Directing, London Film School, and National Film and Television School. He has also taken part in prestigious screenplay development programmes including Les…

Cast and crew

Producer: Malgorzata Domin, Dominika Mandla
Writer: Rafael Kapelinski
Cinematographer: Kacper Fertacz
Editor: Katarzyna Lesniak
Sound: Zbigniew Malecki
Music: Zbigniew Malecki
Cast: Agnieszka Judycka, Piotr Rogucki, Mykyta Liashchenko, Sascha Liashchenko