Outside their country, Hungarian directors have had, from the critics at least, a friendly reception.

When I think of Hungarian films, I think of despair and bleakness, and what's more, despair and bleakness of indefensible duration.

It's true, some senior Hungarian writers are not known for their laughter. There is a strong Germanic influence - an attitude that if it's enjoyable it can't possibly be literature.

Because my name is Hungarian, everyone assumed I knew about Hungary. I didn't. They also assumed that if you knew about Hungary, you also knew about the rest of Eastern Europe.

There's prejudice and poverty in Hungary as there is in every country.

I went to a British Council event a while back and there were lots of German professors of literature. About half of them were convinced I had a German sense of humour and the other half were sure it was British. They are probably still arguing about it now.