About Keresztanyu
Keresztanyu, whose Hungarian title translates as The Godmother, is a Hungarian comedy series created by Barbara Hamori that premiered on RTL Klub on January 3, 2021. Set in the fictional village of Makkosszallas near the Ukrainian border, the show follows Roza mama, the aging matriarch who has spent decades running the area's small-time smuggling network. On her 69th birthday she announces a plan to retire within a year and to hand the operation to whichever relative or associate can get themselves elected mayor of the village, setting off a scramble for her favor.
The series blends the broad warmth of a daily comedy with the plotting of a crime caper, mining humor from the gap between the family's grand criminal self-image and the modest, often absurd reality of life in a remote border community. Local police, ambitious in-laws, and rival operators all circle Roza mama's succession contest, while she keeps her own counsel and tests who is truly worthy of inheriting the business she built. Romantic entanglements, generational friction, and village politics keep the comic stakes turning across each season.
Anchored by veteran actress Piroska Molnar in the title role, Keresztanyu became one of RTL Klub's signature scripted comedies of the early 2020s, supported by a deep ensemble of well-known Hungarian performers. The show ran for four seasons before concluding in November 2022. Its mix of gentle satire, regional color, and a formidable grandmother at the center of a criminal household gave it a distinct identity within Hungarian primetime.
