Divorce Room
On the seventh anniversary of their wedding, Bálint and Vica's marriage reaches its breaking point. Infertility, resentment and failed therapy drive them apart until fate brings them separately to Biertan's legendary, historic Divorce Room in Transylvania, where couples were once locked inside with one bed, one chair and one spoon until they reconciled or separated. Now trapped in the room themselves, they endure a seven-day journey echoing Dante's Purgatory, confronting jealousy, buried memories and inherited family trauma. As reality merges with dreamlike visions, they must decide whether their marriage is worth rebuilding or whether to let it go forever.
Producers' note
As the producer of Divorce Room, my primary objective is to build a robust financial foundation and a targeted distribution framework that ensures the film's commercial viability and international impact.
Our financial strategy for this low-to-mid-budget drama (EUR 631,579) focuses on financial stability and maximisingproduction value through international collaboration.
The project has secured crucial foundational support from the National Film Institute Hungary (NFI). We are leveraging the Hungarian film tax incentive system, which offers a 30% cash rebate on eligible local expenditure.
With NFI backing as our anchor, we are actively seeking international co-production partners, primarily within Europe. We aim to close the remaining financing gap through foreign regional funds, post-production grants or equity investment, while offering partners a share in future revenues and localised distribution rights.
The primary audience consists of adults aged 25–55, lovers of contemporary relationship dramas, arthouse cinema enthusiasts and fans of character-driven, emotionally intense storytelling.
We will launch Divorce Room at major international film festivals (e.g. Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Tallinn Black Nights or Sarajevo) to build critical recognition and attract international sales agents.
We will build an online presence by sharing curated behind-the-scenes content that highlights the film's dramatic tension.
Following a successful festival run, we will target a traditional theatrical release in Hungary and our co-production partners' territories. Simultaneously, we will work with international sales agents to secure wider European theatrical distribution and global streaming placement.
Backed by the National Film Institute Hungary, boosted by a 30% cash rebate and open to strategic international partnerships, Divorce Room is uniquely positioned to become a powerful, profitable and memorable addition to contemporary European cinema.
Director's note
Inspired by the real historical Divorce Room of Biertan, the film explores whether a marriage can be reborn when two people are forced to confront not only each other but also the unresolved wounds of previous generations. At its core, the film is about transformation rather than simply saving a relationship.
The story follows a couple on the verge of divorce who travel to the famous Divorce Room of Biertan, a real place that operated for more than three centuries. Couples seeking separation were locked inside for weeks and forced to share a single bed, chair, spoon and table. According to local records, only one marriage ever ended in divorce. This remarkable historical reality became the foundation of the project.
The film asks an increasingly urgent question: how can two people truly connect in a world shaped by uncertainty, distraction and emotional isolation? My generation is expected to build careers, relationships and families while navigating constant social, economic and environmental instability. Divorce Room emerged from a desire to explore these challenges through a story that is both intimate and universal.
The project also reflects my long-standing interest in family history and inherited memory. Whether understood through psychology, family systems theory or intergenerational trauma, the past continues to shape the present in ways we rarely recognise. The protagonists struggle not only with each other but also with inherited fears, emotional patterns and family narratives that long predate their relationship. The room becomes a contemporary purgatory where they must distinguish what truly belongs to them from what has been unconsciously passed down through generations.
Ultimately, the film suggests that every family carries its own silences, myths, wounds and unresolved histories, asking whether healing becomes possible only when those invisible legacies are finally confronted.
Biography
Otto Banovits is a Swedish–Hungarian writer and director, a London Film School graduate with a Master’s from Stockholm University of the Arts and doctoral candidate at MOME. His films explore transgenerational trauma and psychological intimacy through immersive imagery. His work has screened at Telluride, Film Fest Gent, Montreal, Uppsala, BFI London and Interfilm Berlin; Dark Chamber made the extended list for the 92nd Academy Awards.
Biography
Barbara Nagy is a Hungarian actress with nearly 20 years of theatre experience. She studied acting at the University of Theatre and Film Arts and holds a degree in Communication and Media Studies. Alongside acting, she has worked as a dramaturg on various theatre productions and has also directed. Divorce Room marks her screenwriting debut as a co-writer.
Biography
With a TV documentary background, Oana Giurgiu’s first film experience was Cristi Puiu’s 2005 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner, The Death of Mr Lăzărescu and Kornél Mundruczó’s 2008 Cannes FIPRESCI winner, Delta. She produced Tudor Giurgiu’s: Love Sick-Berlinale 2006, Panorama, Of Snails and Men - Warsaw IFF 2012, Why Me? - Berlinale 2015, Panorama and Freedom (2023); Peter Strickland’s Katalin Varga - Silver Bear 2009, European Discovery at EFA Awards, Cristi Puiu’s Sieranevada-Cannes 2016.
Biography
Tamas Katona is a Hungarian producer and CFO with 20 years of entrepreneurial experience and a decade in cinema. Combining financial expertise with creative production, he has managed over 150 commercials and numerous film projects. A grant and financial expert since 2005 and CFO since 2015, he has worked as a producer and co-producer since 2019 across short and feature films. His notable 2025 Hungarian feature film credits include Random, Mercy and Egykutya, all produced in Hungary.