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From silence to screen: the crossmedia journey of Otthon
Otthon (Home) by Kinga Rofusz, published by the Hungarian Vivandra Books, won the BolognaRagazzi CrossMedia Award 2023 for its poignant, wordless narrative brought to life both in book form and as a short animated film. We spoke with the publisher Alexandra Agoston, to learn more about how this intimate story of loss and renewal became a universally resonant crossmedia experience.
Could you tell us a little about yourself?
Vivandra is a small, family-run publishing house, so it’s always my task to search for, find, and develop books, including editorial work. I worked on the Otthon project mainly with the author, Kinga Rofusz, and during the final creative steps also with our regular book designer.
As for the animated film, I contacted our friend at K.G.B. Studio, Béla Klingl, animation film author and producer, to ask what he thought about making a special short animation based on the book. He was immediately enthusiastic and did his best to create a film that stayed faithful to the book, while adding a lot of valuable cinematic depth.
Could you tell us about your project?
Kinga Rofusz (author of Otthon) had already created amazing illustrations for us, and it had long been our shared goal and desire to publish a silent book based entirely on her own ideas. Otthon is her very personal story, about losing home and creating a new one, told from a little boy's perspective. We liked it from the very beginning. She created a full book design with drawing sketches, which we discussed several times until the story told through the pictures was finalized.
Can you describe your project’s unique ingredients?
I learned something very important from Kinga. It’s essential what is included in the story, but it’s also meaningful what is left out. Whoever “reads” the book adds their own, personal story to it. It’s also interesting that our initial personal story from 2018 became a global one - because of everything that has happened in the world since then, from the pandemic to the ongoing wars. Besides, the BRCMA Award was a true miracle for us: our book and the animation film have reached far more people than we could ever have dreamed of.
How do you see the future of storytelling for children and young adults?
I hope that future generations will also enjoy good stories and tales, in words, pictures, or movies, whether in traditional or digital formats, and in Hungarian as well. And we cannot give up showing them the real world, real emotions, real human thoughts. We are a bit horrified by the rise of AI in the arts — we hope it will be used only as a supporting tool, not to replace authors, creators, and artists. Environmental sustainability is also very important these days, and we do our best to use printing services that meet its standards.
It’s essential what is included in the story, but it’s also meaningful what is left out. Whoever “reads” the book adds their own, personal story to it.
The BolognaRagazzi CrossMedia Award is the prize of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair that celebrates publishing projects able to expand their narrative world beyond the book, through games, podcasts, web series, films, and more. It’s open to anyone who has created cross-media experiences, not just publishers: authors, production companies, IP developers, specialised studios... anyone who has brought the story to life across different platforms. For all the details and rules, check out the official award page.
