Adoption

Márta Mészáros is without doubt one of the most significant female directors from Central Europe, with the majority of her outspoken work dealing frankly with issues of gender, politics and society. Adoption, one of her best-known works, is a story about the hushed rebellion of two strong women, one in her forties and one in her teens. 43-year-old Kata longs to have a child of her own. Rejected by her married lover, Kata looks into adoption, and befriends orphaned teenager Anna, herself determined to start a new life for herself. Winner of the prestigious Golden Bear at the 1975 Berlin Film Festival, Márta Mészáros became the first woman filmmaker ever to receive the award. “Seen today, Adoption, which features a single woman who constantly defies expectations, is powerful not just as a refreshing counterpoint to Europe’s rising conservatism but, even more importantly, in the context of bold feminist cinema.” Ela Bittencourt, Sight & Sound “Adoption rings with a relevant message of self-empowerment and decisively taking control of one’s fate in the face of a dour and uncaring society.” Julia Ray, Cinema Rediscovered Special Features: Adoption (Örökbefogadás, 1975) presented from an HD transfer of the new restoration by the Hungarian National Digital Archive and Film Institute A Conversation with Márta Mészáros (2009): an archival filmed interview with the director Trailer Booklet with new writing on the film by Carmen Gray New and improved English subtitle translation World premiere on Blu-ray Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C)