The Shores of Our National Existence – A short film about the first 200 years of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

How did the Academy, an institution of crucial importance for national language, culture and identity, as well as for science, come into being in a largely German-speaking city without any Hungarian-language cultural facilities? How has its history developed over the last two centuries, in parallel with the history of the country?

This is the story of the short film produced by Animatiqua film studio, which used rarely seen contemporary photographs brought to life by artificial intelligence. In additon to showing the history of the institution from the beginnings of the Reform Era to the fall of communism, the film gives us a virtual tour of the building, which was built with public donations, and a taste of the political debates that influenced the Academy’s fate. It also brings to life an era when, after its history of turbulent years, the Academy, thanks to its central scientific leadership, organised and managed the entire system of basic research through the new research institutes it inherited.