Arts paper by Pigniczky, Réka
Megmaradni (Heritage): A Documentary Film by Réka Pigniczky
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
„And so the years passed, and later I started to think about how it was possible to live a Hungarian life outside of Hungary.” (László Böjtös, Cleveland, Ohio)
Réka Pigniczky’s latest documentary addressing the issues of cultural identity, Heritage portrays the generation who fled Hungary after the Revolution of 1956 and who made their home in the United States. Only a small percentage of this group held onto their Hungarian identity, but for those that did it held a sense of mission. From Hungarian school and scouting to folk dance ensembles and church groups – even sports teams – the parents of this generation instilled Hungarian language, culture and identity into their children through a unique Hungarian “incubator.” Heritage is a collection of interviews with this group of Hungarian refugees and never before seen archive film footage of their first years in the U.S. Cast: László Böjtös, Szabolcs Kálmán, Kálmán Magyar, Andrea Mészáros, dr. Károly Nagy, Ödön Szentkirályi, and Katalin Vörös.
(2013, 65 min., English subtitles)
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Réka Pigniczky is a television journalist, producer and independent documentary filmmaker. She worked for the Associated Press Television News for nearly 15 years, both in New York and Central Europe. She completed her first feature-length documentary, Journey Home: a story from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, in 2006. It won awards in Hungary and was invited to screen at a number of international film festivals. She completed her second feature-length documentary, Inkubátor, in 2010. It was released theatrically in Hungary as well as on television, and it enjoyed wide critical acclaim after the Hungarian Film Festival. The film was also voted one of the 25 best films released in Hungary in 2010. Réka also directed an ethnographic film (Kazár: from the Cradle to the Grave, 2008) and a short biography about László Hudec, a Hungarian architect working in Shanghai and credited with building the first skyscraper in Asia in 1938. She recently released her third film dealing with the issues of cultural identity: Heritage (Megmaradni, 2013).
Réka and her family recently moved back to the U.S. and her company, which she co-owns with Barnabás Gerő, is based in both Budapest and San Francisco. Apart from making films, she also freelances as a reporter/director for Duna World Television. She holds degrees in political science from the University of California, San Diego and the Central European University. She received her master’s degree in international affairs and journalism from Columbia University in New York.