The expression “masterpiece” is insufficient to describe The Round-Up, the first film by Miklós Jancsó to receive international attention. Although the plot takes place in the 19th century, this portrait of a prison full of intrigue and extortion is an allegory for the repression of the Soviet regime, after the 1956 uprising in Hungary. Reducing dialogue to a minimum, extending the duration of shots to the maximum (in complex camera movements) and exploring the dramatic possibilities of scope, this is a seminal title in Jancsó's career, which greatly influenced the work of his countryman Béla Tarr.

The Round-Up premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 1966, and won the critics' prize at Locarno Film Festival the same year. A new digital restoration of the film will be screened, in 4K.