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Coming up … SOUND DOME (Hangdom) Festival DOME RELOAD between Tuesday, January 14 and Sunday, January 19, 2025.

A place such as a huge “planetarium” in which the focus is not on the stars, but on the effects of sounds.

Location: District XIV., 3. Olof Palme Promenade -Városliget (City Park) Budapest

Purchase entry tickets on the spot.

Open hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The immersive cinema hall of the Hungarian Music House is located at the Városliget (City Park). The Music House offers hemispherical screen holds unique spatial experience as the film runs around and above the heads, and so may enjoy the spectacle, the combined effect of music and images even while simply letting go of the outside World sitting on comfy seats or lying our backs on bean bags. The Hangdóm had recently underwent with some further developments, and since there is no other way to reopen the popular venue in a more stylish way than with a festival presenting films that focus on the audiovisual experience.

In the DOME not only emits sounds, but also a projection screen and speakers are located behind it. The audience who sit in the middle of the square can turn their heads and view the amazing screen above! The sound world comes to life, from the sounds of nature to composed music. In fact, the experience even goes beyond this dimension. This is a laboratory for the production of new sounds, alchemy at its highest level. A unique creation, its possibilities are unimaginable.

The audience can see live instrumental or electro-acoustic concerts, mostly supplemented with visual material, or premiere screenings of content created specifically for this purpose.

The House of Music pays tribute to the work of composer György Ligeti with a double screening. One of his best-known compositions, Symphonic Poem for 100 Metronomes, and the sound dome projection based on it, provoke hypnotic and profound thoughts about time, existence, and our relationship with the universe. This is followed by the first part of the four-movement work entitled Chamber Concert for Thirteen Instruments, which was recorded with thirteen excellent musicians at the Pannonia Film Studio.

The Sound Dome – The Intergalactic Gateway screening, combined with a discussion, explores the operation of the dome itself, the diverse uses of panoramic projection and surround sound. Dávid Szauder’s work, The Mastery of Intelligence, reinterprets the classical art of the past 2,000 years with the help of AI imaging. Its surreal montage shows in an entertaining and understandable way what artificial intelligence can be used for. In his experimental film The Spaces Speak, Can You Hear Them?, performance and sound artist Dávid Somló combines a dreamlike animation of his own analogue photos with imagined soundscapes.

As part of the DOME_RELOAD program, visitors can also choose from the “Best of Dome” selection program, compiled from the most popular works of the past year. The program will include, among others, the 360-degree animated fairy tale “Lengemesék” for the youngest. Moods, presenting the sights of the Carpathian Basin and Budapest from a special perspective, and Cloudhitects – Point Cloud Budapest. Also on show will be fine art films about the works of Renoir, Bosch and Csontváry, and the nature film The Blue Wren, produced in collaboration with the Hungarian Ornithological and Conservation Association.

The improved Sound Dome (Hangdóm) 360degree cinema will be hosting screenings at several times every day starting from the reopening festival, ranging from art historical works to animated short films, family and nature films to abstract, contemporary experimental films.

The DOME_RELOAD program will debut on January 15th at the DOME_LIVE premiere screening accompanied by a discussion with the filmmakers, The Mysterious City Park, made in collaboration with Animatiqua, which, narrated by Pál Mácsai, provides an insight into the exciting moments of the Park’s history from the turn of the century to the mid-20th century, with an animated, 360-degree adaptation of photographs from the Fortepan collection.

In addition to the new premiere, previous screenings and their creators will return to the Sound Dome (Hangdóm) as part of RE_LIVE screenings. They will talk about workshop secrets in post-screening discussions, and the audience can also raise questions.

Go – See – Hear – Experience Yourself!

An unforgettable memory of Budapest, not only for foreigners.

Update by Aggie Reiter