Calendar – Past Event

THE FIRST HUNGARIAN DOCUMENTARY &
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
OF LOS ANGELES

ALL SCREENINGS ARE FREE!

United Hungarian House of Los Angeles
1975 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
www.magyarhazla.com
March 25-31, 2010

MARCH 25, 2010, Thursday

6:30 PM Opening

- Welcoming words by Mr. Miklós Pereházy, President of the United Hungarian House
- Opening remarks by Ambassador Balázs Bokor, Consul General of Hungary
- Greetings by Dr. Robert Gyori, President of the William Fox Hungarian Film Club
- Greetings by Mr. Béla Bunyik, President of Bunyik Entertainment

6:45 - 8:25 PM Screening

"Hunky Blues - The American Dream" (Az amerikai álom)
2009 / 100 min / English / Director Péter Forgács, Producer Gábor Kovács
Péter Forgács created a documentary exploring the fate of hundred thousands of Hungarian men and women who arrived to the United States between 1890 and 1921. To tell their sagas Forgács weaved this grand epic from the early American cinema, found footage, photographs and interviews. The film reveals the difficult moments of arrival, integration and assimilation, which eventually fed the happiness of the later generations and their fulfillment of the American dream.
http://www.hunkyblues.com

8:25-8:40 Short break

8:40 - 9:40 PM Screenings

"Born Dead - Children on the Edge of Survival" (Néma bölcsők - Gyermekek a túlélés szélén)
2009 / 32 minutes / English with Hungarian subtitles / Director Hesna Al Ghaoui, Producer Balázs Frida
Born Dead, a documentary by Hesna Al Ghaoui about the causes and prevention of child mortality.

"Alterego"
2007 / 25 min / Hungarian with English Subtitles / Director Ferenc Sebő, Producers Csanád Darvas and Miklós Havas
Young lovers move into a new apartment, and they find themselves living next door too - only 20 years later.

MARCH 26, 2010, Friday

6:30 PM Screening

"The Danube Exodus: The Rippling Currents of the River"
(Dunai Exodus: A folyó beszédes áramlatai)
1998 / 60 min / English / Director Péter Forgács, Producer Cesar Messemaker
In the travelogue The Danube Exodus, Péter Forgács documents the Jewish exodus from Slovakia just before the beginning of World War II. In two boats, a group of nine hundred Slovak, Austrian Jews tried to reach the Black Sea via the river Danube, in order to get to Palestine from there. Forgács based his film on the amateur films of Captain Nándor Andrásovits, the captain of one of the boats. He filmed his passengers while they prayed, slept, and even got married. At the end of this journey, it is clear that the boat will not return empty: a reverse exodus takes place, this time of repatriating Bessarabian Germans, fleeing to the Third Reich because of the Soviet invasion of Bessarabia...

7:30 - 7:45 PM Short break

7:45 - 8:40 PM Screening

"Gypsy Dreams" (Roma Álom)
2009 / 52 min / English & Hungarian / Director and Producer Eszter Nordin
A Hungarian Gypsy family comes to the conclusion that they can no longer survive in their native country. Racial discrimination and unemployment are the major factors in their decision to uproot themselves and migrate to England. Their chosen destination is Bolton where there is already a sizable Hungarian Gypsy population. The documentary follows the Lazi family's struggle to establish themselves in England for nearly two years. An initially promising start has taken a tough turn in the harsh winter of 2009, as recession began to bite hard and British factories closed their doors to foreign workers. Nevertheless, the Lazis hang on in hope, expecting their fourth child.

8:40 - 9:00 PM Short break

9:00 - 9:32 PM Screening

"Borderline Case" (Határeset)
2006 / 32 min/ Hungarian, German with English Subtitles / Director Péter Szalay
In August 1989, having lived in Weimar in the German Democratic Republic, Kurt-Werner Schulz and Gundula Schafitel and their 6-year-old son were crossing Hungary on their way to the Western world. As so many of their East German fellow compatriots, they were planning to cross the border illegally. However, they had no hope of succeeding if all three of them stayed together. The story is told in the manner of a criminal investigation, spiced with some humor.

MARCH 27, 2010, Saturday

App. 7:00 - 9:30 PM Screening

"Journey Home" (Hazatérés)
2008 / 88 min / Hungarian with English subtitles
Director Réka Pigniczky

A journey by two American women to bury their father's ashes in Hungary turns into a quest to find out exactly what he did as a freedom fighter there during the revolution of 1956...

„Nomad Market - Three Wanderers"
2009 / 52 min/ Hungarian, English Subtitles / Director Péter Szalay

Once upon a time there was a recorder maker with starry eyes, a dream-maker travelling from village to village, and a travelleing photographer looking for light. A true fairy tale in the hectic 21st century.