Cultural Studies paper by Pigniczky, Réka
Cold Warriors/Lövészek (Documentary Film)
Type of Abstract (select):Abstract (max. 250 words):
Our new documentary: Cold Warriors (USA/Hungary, 56 minutes, director(s) Réka Pigniczky-Andrea Lauer Rice
This year the founders of the Memory Project (Hungarian-American visual history archive) directed and produced the Memory Project's first documentary, "Cold Warriors" (Lövészek), a 56-minute film about the nearly-forgotten American-Hungarian Rifle Association. The film was completed in May of 2017 and since then has screened at various locations including the Chagrin Falls Documentary Film Festival in Ohio, the Itt-Ott summer conference organized by the Hungarian Society of Friends, and at the prestigious Urania National Theater in Budapest on November 7th, the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. The film has also run on Duna Television, Hungary's primary broadcast channel.
Brief Synopsis:
In Rummerfield, Pennsylvania at the height of the Cold War, a handful of young American-Hungarians were ready to fight for freedom in a homeland they barely knew. Nearly half a century later, in 2016, they return to the remote, run-down farm along the Susquehanna River, to the revolution of their past - and the dreams of their youth. This is an unusual class reunion that speaks about the Iron Curtain, the Cold War and being a hyphenated American. About having two homelands - and one sense of justice.
Brief Professional Bio (max. 100 words):
Andrea Lauer Rice and Réka Pigniczky, co-founders of the Memory Project, are both daughters of 1956-ers and have worked together for 20 years. Réka Pigniczky is a journalist and award- winning documentary filmmaker. Her trilogy of documentary films - Journey Home (Hazatérés), Incubator (Inkubátor) and Heritage (Megmaradni) all explore the legacy of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the question of Hungarian identity. Andrea Lauer Rice is an author and producer of multimedia educational tools that teach young people about culture, history and language. She has co-authored several books, created an oral history website, and produced a computer game and graphic novel about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. pigniczkyreka@gmail.com