While filming is still sporadic compared to what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, the Hungarian movie industry is showing signs of a cautious recovery.
One of the latest examples is Shadow and Bone, the fantasy television series based on the novels by Leigh Bardugo and which premiered on Netflix on April 23. The show’s principal photography took place at Korda Studios in Budapest, while most of the exterior shots were filmed in various locations around Hungary. The “Little Palace” in the fantasy series is in fact the magnificent Baroque Festetics Palace in Keszthely, just west of Lake Balaton.
The “Grand Palace” is the Palace of Justice, completed in 1896 based on the plans of one of the era’s greatest Hungarian architects, Alajos Hauszmann, and originally built to house Hungary’s Ministry of Justice in Budapest.
Other locations used for filming Shadow and Bone include the iconic Buda Castle (the location for several scenes in the series) and the charming little town of Szentendre, just north of Budapest.
Hungarian fans of international movie stars have their own networks to alert each other about upcoming shoots where stars can be spotted. This grapevine has recently been abuzz with news that filming of the U.S. sci-fi action comedy Borderlands has begun in Hungary, featuring Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Hart and Cate Blanchett.
The stars, of course, often advertise their presence as well, as did Kevin Hart when he posted a picture of himself on Instagram jogging in downtown Budapest, with parliament in the background.
Title image: Still capture from a scene of the TV show Shadow and Bone, filmed partly in the Palace of Justice in Budapest. (source: Netflix)
