Just over 40 seconds into Democracy Noir, Connie Field’s documentary about contemporary Hungary, the moral of the tale becomes clear.
On the heels of striking opening shots of the Danube and Budapest, Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister and the film’s central subject, is seen introducing himself, in English, to a group of political activists, followed by footage of him chatting amiably with Vladimir Putin – and then another scene of him shaking hands with a broadly smiling Donald Trump.
Perceptive viewers are unlikely to miss the subliminal message; this is not just about the politics of a smallish east-central European country.
On the contrary, the 90-minute documentary – opening in the US this week and portraying Orbán’s creeping authoritarian takeover of an erstwhile liberal democracy through the eyes of three women; Timea Szabó, an opposition politician, Babette Oroszi, a television journalist, and Niko Antal, a nurse – has universal resonance and urgent relevance for American audiences grappling with the consequences of Trump.
“I’d say this is the most ‘hitting the zeitgeist’ film I’ve made,” said Field, an award-winning director whose previous work includes documentaries about the fall of apartheid in South Africa, the US civil rights movement and the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war.
Related: He is the strongman who inspired Trump – but is Viktor Orbán losing his grip on power?
“One of our absolute, biggest dangers we’re facing in the world today is the demise of democracy. People think that word is abstract. It’s not. It’s really the best system we have to work towards real equality in our societies.”
Fields, whose husband, Pierre Divenyi, is Hungarian, started filming and chronicling events in the country after witnessing a demonstration in Budapest’s Liberty Square in 2014. Demonstrators were protesting against a memorial commissioned by Orbán’s government they said falsely portrayed the second world war-era Hungarian government as a victim, rather than recognize that it was allied with Nazi Germany.
Her initial aim was to depict the decline and possible demise of democracy in Hungary – a Nato and European Union member – as Orbán relentlessly pursued his goal of fashioning an illiberal state by changing the constitution to skew election outcomes and retain power, while emptying institutions like the courts, universities and public broadcasters of dissenting elements.
But the advent of Trump – and the forging of ties between the two men – has made the topic startlingly relevant in her native US.
Some of Trump’s leading followers have cited Hungary as the model that the US should emulate. Orbán visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago three times in 2024, including in the weeks after his election victory over Kamala Harris. In turn, CPAC, the Trump-supporting rightwing political action committee, has staged several conferences in Budapest.
But the sensitivities over Orbán’s links with Trump have become clear in Washington DC, where the documentary’s distributor, Clarity Films, has yet to find a local cinema prepared to screen it – in at least one case, allegedly because of fears that it may upset people linked to the White House.
“One theater owner said they didn’t want to alienate their audience, or some of their audience, or people working for Trump,” said Field. “They told my distributor they were afraid of alienating half their constituency.”
One of our absolute, biggest dangers we’re facing in the world today is the demise of democracy. People think that word is abstract. It’s not
Connie Field, Democracy Noir director
Separately, a cinema in Boise, Idaho – a solidly Republican state – withdrew from an agreement to show the film, claiming that there was no local market.
Field is convinced that the events of recent months, when the Trump’s administration has targeted immigrants, transgender rights and vast segments of the federal government, will enable those Americans who do see the film to clearly see the parallels.
“I’ve had certain small audiences,” Field said, including a benefit event for Indivisible, a progressive movement that has been involved in protests against Trump since his return to the White House.
“They went: ‘Oh my God, this is what’s happening.’ It gave them a way to understand it totally by seeing all the similarities in the strategies. It became apparent to people in a much clearer way, that’s what they were facing.”
Field sees one overarching common thread between Trump and Orbán, a former liberal and George Soros-financed scholar at Oxford University who underwent a sharp political conversion after leading a center-right government to defeat in 2002.
“After he lost the election in 2002, it put him in a real big depression,” she said. “So he went about literally trying to organize a constituency that he could represent, that would be loyal to him.” She drew a parallel with Trump’s construction of the “Make America great again” movement.
But she also sees sobering – and disturbing – differences, leading her to conclude that Trump poses a greater danger.
Where Orbán moved slowly, accumulating autocratic power gradually over several years, Trump is now subjecting the US to “a complete onslaught”.
Related: Donald Trump says he is not a dictator. Isn’t he?
“He’s trying to paint a picture for us now that this is coming for you, if you don’t watch out. And he starts with the most vulnerable, the immigrants. Orbán never had to use any of that.”
Still, Field’s message is one of hope. The US has two advantages in countering his autocratic ambitions that Hungary lacked: the devolving of political power to the states (in contrast to Hungary’s easily mastered unitary model) and the Democrats’ status as a well-funded opposition party.
In the face of years of spirited Hungarian resistance, exemplified by the three heroines of Field’s film, Orbán remains in office, although polls show his governing Fidesz party on course to lose next year’s scheduled election to the opposition Tisza party, led by Péter Magyar. That would signal the first change in power in 16 years.
“The story I tell is of people trying to resist this, no matter what,” said Field.
“The most important thing for me now is that audiences understand we must fight back and that democracy is crucially important to everything. I was very impressed by these Hungarian women who’ve been carrying on this fight for 12 years and never giving up. I find that very invigorating and hopeful – and I hope my American audience finds it the same way.”
