Children of Glory (Szabadság, Szerelem)

Karcsi Szabó is a member of the Hungarian water polo team, one of Europe’s leading teams. Last year, the team’s only defeat was in Moscow, where they only lost because the referee refused to let them win. Now the team are training intensively for the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, which could provide them with the opportunity to take its revenge on their ostensible superiors.

But when the students of the Technical University take to the streets of Budapest in October in order to demonstrate their solidarity with the workers’ uprising in Poland, Karcsi and his friend Tibi find themselves caught up in the tide of political unrest. At first the pair sees it all as an adventure but when Karcsi meets a temperamental student named Viki, he finds himself drawn increasingly into her political activities.

When the Uprising is crushed by Soviet troops, Karcsi falls into a depression. Now, more than, ever, he needs to serve the national team. And on 6 December 1956, the Hungarians find themselves up against the Soviet Union’s team once again – this time at the Olympic semi-finals.

Berlin Film Festival Programme