The roots of its birth go back to Kolozsvár, and its ancestors include Europe's third-largest silent film factory.

A táncz,[3] was the title of the film presented at the Uránia Magyar Tudományos Színház[4] in 1901, with which Hungarian cinematography began.

Nevertheless, the film Valahol Európában, made in 1947 and later a world success, directed by Géza Radványi, is definitely worth mentioning.

[19] The decree of the Council of Ministers of 19 August 1948 decided on the nationalization of the Hunnia Film Factory under the name of Magyar Filmgyártó Nemzeti Vállalat (Mafilm).

After Stalin's death, from 1953, film production belonged to Minister József Darvas, and this has brought a revival of Hungarian cinema.

Zoltán Fábri (Körhinta, Hannibál tanár úr), Zoltán Várkonyi, Viktor Gertler, Félix Máriássy, Károly Makk (Liliomfi), were members of the new generation of Hungarian film directors who restored the status of Hungarian film.

The overthrow of the 1956 revolution and the subsequent mass showdown pushed back the promising processes that had begun in the Hungarian film industry.

Among them stood out were László Ranódy's three films (Szakadék,[21] Légy jó mindhalálig,[22] Pacsirta)[23] as well as Zoltán Fábri's work, Édes Anna.

At the same time, the Budapest Filmstúdió was established, and its director, István Nemeskürty, played a key role in becoming an internationally renowned creative workshop.

Two generations appeared on the silver screens at the same time: Zoltán Fábri, Miklós Jancsó, András Kovács, Péter Bacsó, Károly Makk, and the youth: István Szabó, Zoltán Huszárik, Pál Gábor, István Gaál, Ferenc Kósa, Sándor Sára and their companions.

[27] There were Hungarian filmmakers of the era whose work was considered among the greatest achievements in universal cinema, including at international level.

Speaking about Miklós Jancsó, many film critics have stated that it is no exaggeration to say that he is also among the first in the world, on an equal footing with Antonioni, or even Bergman.

Subsequently, in 1976, the structure formed within Mafilm's organization four years earlier was changed again, three companies were merged again, and then four feature film studios, Budapest, Dialóg, Hunnia and Objektív, were established.

The Hunnia was organized under the direction of Miklós Köllő, Pál Sándor took part in the professional work as a deputy leader, and the art council was Ferenc Grunwalsky, Ferenc Kardos, Zsolt Kézdi-Kovács, the later first man of Mafilm, Pál Zolnay and Zsuzsa Bíró, Sándor Csoóri.

Bogács's deputy was Péter Bacsó, the members of the studio's art council were István Dárday, Zoltán Fábri, Imre Gyöngyössy, Miklós Jancsó, András Kovács and Károly Makk, supplemented by playwright János Újhelyi and literary historian Miklós Béládi.

The Budapest Film Studio, which also served as Mafilm Site II, continued to operate under the name Magyar Mozi és Videofilmgyár (MOVI).

[33][34] In the same year, on 15 June, the Fővárosi Bíróság (Metropolitan Court) found Mafilm was insolvent and declared the liquidation of the film company.

[31][34] The result of the tender for the privatization of Mafilm in early 1998 was no longer announced by the Horn government in view of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Since 2007, Mafilm's asset management has also been transferred to MMKA, which is chaired by Ferenc Grunwalsky and its CEO, Tamas Tolmár.

[31] In 2010, the mandate of the Film Board of Trustees, MMKA, headed by Grunwalsky expired, and the new chairman became writer Zoltán Kőrösi.

[38] Andrew Vajna was appointed Government Commissioner for the Hungarian Film Industry in 2011, and together with Ágnes Havas and Csaba Bereczki, CEO and International Director of the Magyar Nemzeti Filmalap,[39] he put the Hungarian film industry on a completely new footing.

[42] In January 2014, the renovated Studios III and IV of Mafilm's film factory in Róna Street, were inaugurated with a HUF 300 million grant by the government.

The National Film Institute Hungary was formed by the merger of the Magyar Nemzeti Filmalap and the Médiamecenatúra Program.

[47][48][49] In parallel with the above reorganisations, the name of the film company changed several times, with the official website, in early 2020, Mafilm Nonprofit Zrt.

It takes into account as a fundamental criterion whether the combination of artistic merit and financial feasibility can be optimally achieved in the case of acceptance of a given film proposal.

[52] In August 2021, Káel announced that the government's economic protection action plan[53] had decided to develop studios, unprecedented in the history of Hungarian film production.

As an investment of the National Film Institute Hungary, the construction of four new studios in Fót was started on a useful floor area of 9600 square metres.

The development is also intended to consolidate the strategic competitive advantage that Hungary has the largest film production capacity in Europe after London.