The Blood of the Rose (A rózsa vére)
(1998, feature, 35mm, colour, 100 min.)

Director: Dezső Zsigmond
Screenplay: Dezső Zsigmond, Károly Veér, Géza Balogh, Ferenc Temesi
Director of photography: Balázs Sára
Editor: Gabriella Koncz
Music: Republic, Cipő (Bódi László), Zoltán Tóth
Sound: Ottó Oláh
Visual design: Károly Veér
Costumes: Gabriella Parádi
Production manager: Gábor Sarudi
Producer: Gábor Kálomista
Production company: Megafilm, Hungarian Television
Cast: Eszter Nagy-Kálózy, Sándor Gáspár, Vlagyimir Kjucsenko, György Barkó

Tiszahát, in the northeast corner of Hungary, is today a mesmerizing countryside with true human relations. Pursuant to the political takeover, this part of the county has also suffered major changes: poverty stricken reality drives many to illegal activities. Anita, the village innkeeper raising her kid on her own, does ”szojálka”, that is, smuggles diesel fuel nightly from Ukraine. Her boyfriend, András, controls the county’s main vegetable market. One day, however, he gets severely beaten up by rivaling gangs. Anita tries to persuade him to be part of the ”szojálka” business. Anita’s grandfather has a huge, empty barn, ideal for a depot. András is game and Grandpa, reluctantly, gives his okay. The old man tries to help his granddaughter in other ways, too. Out in the jungle of an orchard, he builds a kiln so that he can support Anita with the money he gets for the dried fruit. Soon he moves to the kiln. Shortly after, however, ”szojálka” is not a possibility anymore: due to a raid, András’ business is terminated. A nearby pub owner offers András help to recover his business, provided he brings a package from Ukraine. In the pub they meet Alex, a Ukrainian musician. Anita and Alex fall for each other. They choose to go after this package together. András realizes that they’ve set him up. He follows the lovers and bullies Alex. Anita tries to escape but András pursues her… and the girl sees him drive his car into an abyss. It is Grandpa’s burial now and Anita seeks refuge in the kiln, floating among her dreams only to awaken when Alex sits on her bed… He is still very interested in the package. However, the consignors also want the package badly and they send him a red rose. The man drives to his grandfather’s old house and points a gun at himself.