The Hungarian general János Hunyadi defeated the much larger Ottoman army in 1456 with tireless determination and against all adversities and stopped their move to conquer the Vatican and to bring in Western Europe. Hunyadi thus significantly shaped the history of Europe. From April 21, 2025, five ORF-1 premier assembly is all about intrigue, warlike arguments and love: “Hunyadi-ascent to power” tells in ten episodes-in double episodes always at 8:15 p.m. and 9.10 p.m.-of the adventurous life of the general in the medieval Europe of the 15th century. At the start of the TV large-scale TV production, which was shot under the direction of Robert Dornhelm with the Austrians Laurence Rupp, Cornelius Obonya and Murathan Muslu in Budapest, “Hunyadi-The Sharm of the Middle Ages” is on the program.
“Hunyadi – ascent to power” – Episode 1 (April 21, 8:15 p.m., ORF 1)
Europe in the 15th century: János Hunyadi (Gellért L. Kádár) has to watch as a child how his family dates to live in the Hungarian Castle of Hunyad in an attack. Years later, as a young man, he is in service of the Serbian ruler George Brankovic. At his farm he falls in love with Brankovic’s daughter Mara (Franziska Törőcsik) and meets the combative Archsébet Szilágyi (Vivien Rujder). In order to protect Serbia from Ottoman troops, Brankovic wants to give his daughter Mara to the Sultan Murad (Murathan Muslu).
“Hunyadi – ascent to power” – Episode 2 (April 21, 9.10 p.m., ORF 1)
Hunyadi comes to the courtyard of the Hungarian king Sigismund (László Gálffi). At Buda Castle, he wants to convince him to set up troops against Sultan Murad. It comes to reunion with Erzsébet, which suggests a trade: If he teaches her in sword fight, she wants to introduce him to the secrets of court life. Sigismund’s daughter Elisabeth (Mariann Hermányi) is to be married to Albrecht von Habsburg (Laurence Rupp). Finally, Hunyadi accompanies the king on the trips to Vienna and Milan, where he wants to improve the chances of the imperial crown through alliances.
Accompanying documentation “Hunyadi – The Evidence of the Middle Ages” (April 21, 10:05 p.m., ORF 1)
The Middle Ages is one of the most interesting and at the same time most controversial era in world history. There is a great attraction. Why is that? Is it the longing for the simple but at the same time adventurous life, or simply the romantic transfiguration of an extremely violent era? With the attractiveness of the Middle Ages, the media and, above all, the cinematic evaluation also experiences a boom: series such as “Game of Thrones” and film series such as “Thor”, to name just a few, are inconceivable without medieval narratives. But no era seems to be buried under prejudices like the Middle Ages – books and films (V) declare the realm of the knights to the hero world.
Gabriele Flossmann’s new ORF documentary shows a realistic classification of the historic hero of Jáno Hunyadi in the history of Europe, also deals with the allies Hunyadis-including Vlad Dracul and his son Vlad ţepeş, who, as Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”, went into literature history-and subjects the series to a fact check. Historian and bestselling author Liliana Le Onitrat as well as the expert Arno Strohmeyer and Turkish historian Yaris Yilmaz have their say. The main actors tell about their roles and their personal access to the historical characters.
Further details about “Hunyadi – ascent to power”
The top -class international occupation of “Hunyadi – Rising to Power” includes Gellért L. Kádár as military leader János Hunyadi, Murathan Muslu, Laurence Rupp and Cornelius Obonya as well as Franciska Törőcsik and Vivien Rujder, further, among other things, Francesco Acquaroli (“Fargo”), Karel Roden (“Die” Bourne conspiracy “), Rade Serbedija (” Batman Begins “), Thomas Trabacchi (” Studio Battaglia “) and Elena Rusconi (” 6 Underground “). In addition to Robert Dornhelm (episodes 1, 2, 7, 9), the Hungarian directors Orsi Nagypal (episodes 3, 4, 5, 8), Attila Szász (episodes 6, 7) and Balázs Lengyel (episode 10) also directed. The series showrunner is Baláz’s Lengyel. The screenplays come from Lengyel, George Mihalka, Balázs Lovas, Zsófia Ruttkay, Attila Veres and Mór Bán, on whose bestselling roma series is based.
“Hunyadi – ascent to power” is a co -production by Serendipity Point Films, Twin Media, HG Media, MR Film and Beta Film as well as ORF and the Hungarian TV station TV2 with the support of the National Filmstitut in Hungary.