Care

Marcell Gero, Sara Laszlo

Producers

Sara Laszlo, Melanie Blocksdorf

Lab Edition

2026

Production

Campfilm

Country

Hungary, Germany

SYNOPSIS

Zsóka, a Hungarian mother living in Berlin, returns to Lake Balaton for the summer. After befriending a local woman and her two sons, she becomes convinced the boys are being emotionally and physically abused. Torn between doubt, fear and responsibility, she struggles with whether to intervene. One disturbing night finally compels her to report her suspicions to child protective services, setting off a chain of events she can no longer control.

DIRECTOR'S NOTE

While making my documentary "Cain’s Children", I became deeply attached to three young children living in extreme neglect who ended up playing a key role in my film. As my own sons grew up in safety, I struggled with the contrast between our lives and theirs. We stayed in touch long after filming ended, and I even seriously considered adopting them. We spoke regularly on the phone, texted several times a day, and I visited them weekly, at first, then monthly, then slowly less frequently. The experience of this naïve urge to help, and the painful realization of my own limitations inspired the story of my first feature film, "Care".

LOG LINE

A Hungarian mother of two, living in Berlin, returns to Lake Balaton for the summer. After befriending two village boys, she suspects their mother is abusing them. As her doubts grow, she must decide whether to intervene or look away.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

○ Marcell Gerő's feature-length documentary "Cain’s Children" premiered at the 62nd San Sebastian Film Festival’s New Directors Competition. With the projects he directed or produced, he participated in several workshops such as Nipkow Programm, EP2C Workshop, Torino Feature Lab or EAVE. He graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest. During his film school years, he was the first assistant director to the Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó.

○ Sára László graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest with a degree in directing. During her studies she has written and directed short films such as "Skirt" (2006, 39th Festival Premiers Plans Anger) or "London Au Pair" (2009). After graduation she co-founded Campfilm with director Marcell Gerő and DoP Tamás Dobos and worked as a producer in close artistic collaboration with the filmmakers. She was the co-author of the feature documentary "Cain’s Children" by Marcell Gerő.

PRODUCERS

Sara Laszlo, Melanie Blocksdorf

"Co-founder of Campfilm, Sára László has been producing documentaries and features since 2007.
Campfilm's credits include ""Natural Light"" by Dénes Nagy that premiered at the 72nd Berlinale Competition and received the Silver Bear Award for Best Director, ""Soft Rain"" by Dénes Nagy (45th Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes), ""Cain’s Children"" by Marcell Gerő (62nd San Sebastian IFF), ""The Euphoria of Being"" by Réka Szabó (Grand Prix of the 30th Semaine de la Critique of the Locarno International Film festival). Sara is a Eurodoc, Nipkow Programme, EAVE, DokIncubator, Producers on the Move, ACE Producers alumni and a 2019 Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Grantee. She teaches film production at the Budapest Metropolitan University as well as ELTE. She is member of the European Film Academy, MADOKE and MPU. "

PRODUCTION COMPANY PROFILE

○ Campfilm
○ 1075 Budapest, Károly krt. 3/C, Hungary
○ office@campfilm.eu
○ +36-209922655

PRODUCTION BUDGET

○ Total Budget: 2,180,074 USD
○ Confirmed budget and source: 136,834 USD (Creative Europe Media Co-Development Grant)

LANGUAGE

Hungarian

Drama

GENRE

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