Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2021: #81. György Pálfi’s Hen

Published on January 2, 2021

Hen

After premiering two new titles in 2018, for what will technically be his 8th feature, Hungary’s György Pálfi moves into the pen with the intriguing Hen, a Hungarian-Mexican co-production presented as a project in the San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum. Palfi’s crew has yet to be announced. Pálfi’s 2002 debut Hukkle went to TIFF and San Sebastian (where he won a Special Mention as Best New Director) and then his 2006’s Taxidermia premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes. He’s competed twice in Karlovy Vary, first with I Am Not Your Friend (co-directed by Zsofia Ruttkay and Attila Rethly) then in 2014 with Free Fall, which won Best Director and the Special Prize of the Jury.

Gist: Told from the perspective of a free-range hen who is increasingly frustrated by a farmer who keeps taking her eggs when she longs to hatch her children, she finds a way to hide them. Through her eyes we come to understand the tragic life of her perpetrator.

Release Date/Prediction: While Palfi is still seeking funding and international partners, Hen could likely be a release in the latter half of 2021, though it might be a project which would find itself in either the Karlovy Vary or Locarno competitions.

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.