Moleman documentary film series
The idea for the Moleman series came from my friend Gábor Csépai sometime around 2006. He originally envisioned it as a TV program, but after long attempts it became clear that he wouldn’t have enough sponsorship to make it happen. I suggested: what if we made it as a documentary instead—just in our free time, without any budget? So, in 2008, we grabbed a camera, gathered a group of friends who were happy to help for free, and began shooting the first Moleman documentary. From the very first installment, it was part of the concept that the film’s participants would not only appear as interviewees but also contribute creatively to shaping the visual and audio world of the film. As a result, some of the illustrative footage, animations, and music were created by the featured individuals themselves or by other representatives of the subject matter.
By 2022, we had completed five full-length Moleman documentaries—except for the fourth installment, all of them were made in our free time without sponsors or outside funding. Part 1 follows five young people in Budapest, each engaged in different activities connected to the city’s subcultural life (visual and performing artists as well as extreme sports enthusiasts). Part 2 explores the demoscene—a computer subculture that has existed for over 40 years but remains largely unknown—now regarded as a globally unique and indispensable film on the subject. Part 3 focuses on grassroots music scenes (beatbox, turntablism, Random Trip, etc.) and the digital revolution in music. Part 4 uncovers the little-known beginnings and international successes of Hungarian computer game development in the 1980s and 1990s. Part 5, Stamps Back, tells the incredible story of the emergence of the video gaming and demoscene communities in Hungary—behind the Iron Curtain.
The films have been selected for the official competition programs of multiple renowned international film festivals. The first installment won a Prize in New York. The second received special recognition in Los Angeles and Derby (UK), and was selected for the documentary competition of the “A”-category Warsaw Film Festival—marking the first time in four years that a Hungarian documentary had been included in an A-category festival program. It was screened to a full house at PAX East in Boston, North America’s largest video gaming event, and was voted Best Hungarian Documentary of recent years by the audience of the IndaFilm Online Documentary Festival in 2013. The Pixar and Disney animation teams also organized private screenings for themselves. It has been screened in over 35 cities worldwide, and its combined online view count has exceeded 500,000. The third installment won Best Editing at the 2014 Action on Film International Film Festival in Los Angeles, and was runner-up for Best Documentary. The fourth was featured at the film festival of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco—the world’s largest event dedicated to game developers—and was also screened at some of Europe’s most prestigious gaming events, including Germany’s Gamescom, which attracts 350,000 visitors annually. The release of the fifth film was highly anticipated by a dedicated fan base numbering in the thousands, and it reached over 10,000 views on YouTube within just three days of release.
Around the films, a vibrant and active audience gradually formed, now numbering in the thousands. Thanks to one such fan-supported crowdfunding campaign in 2018, we produced a two-disc collector’s Blu-ray edition of the fourth installment in 1,000 copies. Before the fifth part, we likewise used crowdfunding to purchase new filming equipment, and in 2023, after the film’s completion, the community funded another collector’s edition—this time a four-disc boxed Blu-ray set—also limited to 1,000 copies.
“I was touched by it.
It was fascinating and it lifted my spirits.”
Louis Castle
co-founder of Westwood Studios
Dune II / Command & Conquer / Red Alert
“It’s an absolutely important story to tell.
It was very entertaining, I watched it twice.”
Steve Sargent
BAFTA award-winning Producer
GT Interactive / Rockstar Games
“Great use of music and animation,
and makes some interesting points,
it speaks a universal message.”
Jon Fitzgerald
Filmmaker
Co-Founder of Slamdance Film Festival
“It’s a very fun and very creative
way of telling a story.”
Chris Taylor
founder of Gas Powered Games
Total Annihilation / Dungeon Siege
Watch the films
Moleman 1 – The Truth Lies Down Under (2010)
Moleman is a documentary diary about the independent subcultures of a bustling Central European capital, Budapest. Under the cultural surface of the metropolis lies a flourishing art life, and alternative recreational activities are available. There are many who do not follow the mainstream taste, and do not fall for the temptation of the commercial media. The originators of Budapest’s subcultures and their audience represent thousands of people. These subcultures and artists should not be underrated or disregarded. Moleman chooses five characters from this world, and allows us to peek through their eyes into a culture and lifestyle that lie out of the realm of celebrities, that is other than Pop Idol or the soap opera „Between Friends” or the pop band Hooligans. But it exists, creates works and is taking shape.
English subtitles are coming later.
Moleman 2 – Demoscene: The Art of the Algorithms
In the 1980’s, something changed the world forever. Computer technology, mostly due to the appearance of affordable Commodore 64’s, entered households worldwide, providing the opportunity for everyone to create digital art. But existing art forms weren’t the only ones to be re-implemented on these computers; brand new forms of art also appeared, ones thought to be impossible up to that point. Computers provided an opportunity for the creator to produce visuals and sound effects and combine them to create the ultimate audiovisual experience, by using only the language of mathematics and writing program code, without physical interaction. As a result of such techniques, demos were born, and with them, the demoscene subculture.
A demo can best be understood as a spectacular animated music video which is usually a few minutes long. And yet it’s something entirely different from a traditional video. Computer technics is the fastest developing part of our world, which produces more and more new opportunities for art.
Moleman shows you now a digital subculture, where artists don’t use always the latest technology, but their aim is also to bring out the best from 30 year-old computer technics.
Select subtitles in the player.
Select subtitles in the player.
Moleman 3 – Journey to the Surface
Moleman 3 is a documentary diary about a journey from the underground to the cultural surface.
Music styles and artists ignored by record labels and the mainstream media didn’t have much chance of getting wide recognition back in the day. The digital revolution changed everything. The internet and digital technology, accessible to everyone, reshaped the music industry completely. The significance of record labels which controlled mainstream music has changed and decayed. For genres building themselves up from the bottom, success was once unimaginable without a record label and money. As of today, thanks to the digital revolution, it can easily be done.
The possibility of doing worldwide self-management and creating quality content becoming available to everyone has opened the way from the streets to the biggest stages.
The internet didn’t just give artists a chance to get their work to everyone; it also gave the audience a chance to find anything. Today we can’t just consume what is served to us by the mainstream media. It’s up to us if we look for something that is valuable to us or if we just satisfy ourselves with something we are handed. We have to uncover the joy of discovery.
During his journey, Moleman shows you independent artists and genres building themselves up from the bottom, who do not follow the mainstream taste, but find their own way to the surface. Beatbox, turntablism, DJing, live improvisation, and bedroom and award-winning producers are waiting for you on this road.
Select subtitles in the player.
Select subtitles in the player.
Moleman 4 – Longplay
Moleman 4 – Longplay is the inspiring story of Hungarian video game development behind the Iron Curtain and explores the untold stories behind world-famous games like The Last Ninja, Impossible Mission II, Ecco the Dolphin and more, while showing how their dedicated developers overcame the hard circumstances they faced living in a socialist country still under Soviet pressure.
Smuggled in computers, surprised Commodore, outfoxed Nintendo, tricked SEGA, revolutionary game engines, groundbreaking ideas. A games software outfit that dodged the limelight and led the world from behind the Iron Curtain.
Select subtitles in the player.
Secret Level
90s Expansion Pack
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Select subtitles in the player.
Select subtitles in the player.
Moleman 5 – Stamps Back
From Commodore 64s smuggled across the Iron Curtain to cracked games on cassette tapes sold at flea markets, floppy disk swapping via postal mail, hacked phone booths connected to US BBSes, and copy parties packed to capacity, Stamps Back tells the story of how teenagers in Hungary ignited a computing revolution in the 1980s with illegally copied video games from the West, and began the Hungarian demoscene.
Select subtitles in the player.
Select subtitles in the player.
Select subtitles in the player.