Péter Becz

The panel program solved the issue of housing after the WW II of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Millions were given the possibility to live in new homes, in close communities. Maybe some of them did not want to as they homes were taken away, or the quality of these apartments were so low that the everyday life was a surreal insanity with thin walls, paprika smell of the neighbours in the bathroom or being flooded by the one next door) The system changed but the “panels” as in Hungarian, stayed with us, with old and newer problems. The panels are connecting generations from the past to the present through their walls, irons, staircases and doors. Our immersive apartment is based on a collection of surreal experiences of Hungarians and Eastern Europeans from the past and present. The poorly and occasionally well designed homes, that always have some absurd elements are the essence of the PANEL PROGRAM. This is a collective story told through an intimate apartment building, the PANEL.

Recipes for Life follows young filmmaker Péter as he explores identity, friendship, and love through the story of József, a Hungarian refugee in Copenhagen. Péter, navigating a breakup and his return to Budapest, seeks cooking lessons from József, who once cooked for freedom fighters during the 1956 revolution. Their lessons evolve into deeper reflections on love, loss, and life’s fragility. Each chapter is tied to a gastronomic term, paralleling Budapest and Copenhagen. As József cares for his ailing ex-wife, Péter faces his own crossroads. Their unlikely friendship reveals that learning to cook is also learning to live.