Arts paper by Schneider, Lynn
Budapest: An American Quest. A Family's Journey to 1920s Hungary. (Documentary film)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
BUDAPEST: AN AMERICAN QUEST, A Family’s Journey to 1920s Hungary, is an award-winning documentary short film of reverse migration with a twist: two Americans go back to Budapest in the 1920s, fall in love, start a family and live in Hungary from 1925-1935. The filmmaker finds a box of their romantic 16mm black and white original footage from the 1920s, and intrigued by these beautiful mysterious images, sets off on her own quest to discover her family's hidden story.
BUDAPEST: AN AMERICAN QUEST, A Family's Journey to 1920s Hungary was the Official Selection at IFFCA, the International Film Festival of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, and at the International Conference on Jewish Genealogy in Boston 2013. At the Berkeley Video Film Festival BUDAPEST: AN AMERICAN QUEST won the Grand Festival Award for BEST ETHNOGRAPHIC FILM.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Lynn Schneider is a Berkeley Filmmaker who found a box of 16mm film footage of her family in Budapest after her father died suddenly at age 54 in California. The filmmaker has a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley, and an M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from San Francisco State University. She currently works as a Professor of English as a Second Language at City College of San Francisco.