The Érpatak Model

A chilling portrait of power, paranoia, and soft dictatorship in rural Hungary

The Érpatak Model, directed by Benny Brunner in cooperation with Keno Verseck, is a 76-minute documentary that examines the disturbing political experiment of Mihály Zoltán Orosz, the ultra-nationalist mayor of Érpatak, a remote Hungarian village of 1,750 inhabitants. Obsessed with order, discipline, and control, Orosz divides his citizens into “builders” and “destroyers,” establishing his so-called Érpatak Model, a local blueprint for an authoritarian social order.

Driven by his belief in a “sacred and organic dictatorship,” Orosz’s rhetoric blends nationalism, religious mysticism, and conspiracy theories, targeting liberal democracy, the press, and what he calls the “International Masonic Jewish Network” led by George Soros. His aim is nothing less than to rebuild Hungary in his image, casting himself as a heroic knight defending the nation’s purity.

Filmed between January and April 2014, Brunner’s anthropological approach captures the mayor’s world through daily interactions, village ceremonies, and tense encounters with his subordinates and opponents, particularly among the Roma community. The documentary also follows Orosz’s attempts to export his model to other towns while battling in courts and public forums.

By linking these local dynamics to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s concept of an “illiberal” state, The Érpatak Model reveals how soft totalitarianism takes root in contemporary Europe, eroding democracy, judicial independence, and minority rights. The film stands as a powerful and unsettling case study of how ideology, fear, and power can reshape a community, and a nation.