And it is in that precise quarter that the Italian Institute of Culture has its office, of which Pressburger is now the new director, having taken over in mid-August. An exciting return, therefore, in many ways. Plus, a challenge, a wager, on which Pressburger does not yet want to compromise himself, by anticipating ideas and projects.

I'm going there to be a diplomat, and I have to be diplomatic," he says, smiling. Besides his appointment as director of the Institute, the ministerial assignment also includes the role of cultural appointee. And Pressburger is well aware of his assigments, but he is also confident -- indeed, "full of enthusiasm." " I will live in Budapest for at least the first six months. The appointment lasts from two to four years. After the first two, I will decide whether or not to continue."

Naturally, after the "escape" in 1956 (at age 18), it's not the first time that the writer-director - recent winner of the Premio Viareggio '98 with "La Neve e la colpa"(Einaudi) - has returned to his native city. But they were always brief sojourns: "I had many relatives; there remains only one. But I have many friends. Returning, on the personal side, is meaningful in many ways: I passed the most dramatic part of my life in Budapest, amidst the war, the anti-Jewish persecution and Stalinism, which threatened to cancel me from the list of the living."

What are your ambitions, in your new role?

To act as a bridge, to contribute in realizing the unification between two great European cultures: those of central and mediterranean Europe. A unification that has been attempted many times, but never with complete success." After all, it's the continuation of a project that Pressburger has been promoting for years, in his role as co-director of the MittelFest of Cividale of Friuli. "A wonderful job", he says, "making people of different cultures meet and converse with one another."

At what point is the cultural exchange between Italy and Hungary?

"There are still many areas left in the dark, on the part of both countries. Italian "living" culture, the one of the past 30 - 40 years, is still not totally known in Hungary, and even less is the Hungarian one in Italy. There's an objective obstacle: the great difficulty of the Hungarian language-- which, moreover, is part of the beauty of that culture. Hungarian literature, for example, is not very well known in Italy-- one, two authors. Actually, maybe just one: Péter Esterházy.

With regards to music , only two great names are well-known: Ligeti and Kurtág. And nothing is known of the figurative arts, of architecture, of cultural science. On the other hand, I believe this to be reciprocal: I don't know how well-known names like Berio and Maderna, not to mention musicians of the latest generations, are in Hungary. Even Italian writers should be better known. The famous names are always the same ones: Eco, Calvino... But there is one fact: Tamaro did not sell in Hungary..."

What is the cultural situation, today, in Hungary?

"A situation of great animation, of great fervor. The country is living a new phase. For example, in the figurative arts sector, which for years has been very reserved, there are now many new initiatives. At any rate, the musical field is always the most alive and stimulating."

Who does most for the culture? The government, private enterprise, certain institutions?

"Up until now, the government was everything. Now things are changing. It's a transitional phase, of the society as a whole, of the entire Hungarian culture. But in the end, an equilibrium will be found. I'm optimistic. After all, Hungary has model examples as reference; of great European countries more or less nearby. Germany, for example, where government support of the arts is very strong. France and Italy are also good examples: even in Italy the government has not held back....".

Let's talk about literature: the books of Agota Kristof and Sándor Márai are having great success in Italy. With which authors of the 1900s should we get better acquainted?

"Well, actually, Kristof is a French writer (editor's note - she emigrated from Hungary in 1956,and has lived since then in Switzwerland and writes in French, ). To say that she is a Hungarian writer is like saying that Pressburger is a Hungarian writer... Anyhow, it's true: too little is known about Hungarian authors, for the objective difficulty - we've alreay mentioned it- of the language. There aren't enough specialists, translators, and editors don't want to take risks. Of course, there are exceptions-- translators who have great merit: Marinella D'Alessandro or Bruno Ventavoli, the latter having translated for the publishing house e/o ,"Scuola sulla frontiera" by Géza Ottlik, an extraordinary novel (Ottlik has actually only written that book: recently, posthumously, its continuation , "Buda", has come out). And great merit goes to the owners of e/o, the Ferri's. The works of Csath, "Opium and Other Stories," come to mind, or those of Örkény, "Short Stories of One Minute." And, again, great merit goes to a personage such as Umberto Albini , able Greek scholar, who has translated the theatrical works of playwright Miklós Hubay. Now, writer Kertész has had success in many countries with his extraordinary book on the experiences at Auschwitz, but here it has yet to be translated. And poetry? How much is known of Hungarian poetry? Of the works of Ady Endre, for example? And even of a famous name like Petöfy? Frankly, how much of his poetry is known?"

In an interview , Esterházy deplored the degradation of the Hungarian publishing trade: the triumph of second rate mysteries, of porno novels, of low quality paperbacks...

"Yes, it's true. But we think that for 50 years all of this didn't exist. So, therefore,why shouldn't it exist now? Certainly, it's part of a process of standardization and of consumerism. We believe that in Hungary, under all aspects, a new era is beginning, and it will take some time to find stability."

How is life today in Hungary, after the fall of the "walls"?

Part of the people lives much better, another part much worse. There's another philosophy of society. I repeat: more time is needed. But I have a lot of faith in the cultural field. there are great creative forces, especially among the young; and then tradition is such that the outcome can only be positive.