Journey Home www.56films.com
A Story from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution by Réka Pigniczky
Journey
Home is a documentary film about two sisters who try to find
out exactly what their father did as a freedom fighter during the Hungarian
revolution of 1956. The story unfolds as the two women take their father’s
ashes from the U.S. to Hungary to fulfill his dying request to be buried
in his native land, a place to which he never returned after fleeing in
1956. The journey veers off course when the sisters realize that their
father’s role in Hungary’s uprising was never really questioned
– and never really documented.
Taking
place in Budapest a half-century after the fateful events that took nearly
3,000 lives and forced more than 200,000 Hungarians to emigrate, Journey
Home documents László Pigniczky’s daughters as they
take a personal – and sometimes disturbing, sometimes humorous –
trek into the history of 1956. Armed only with their deceased father’s
sketchy anecdotes and their own curiosity about the past, they try to
piece together the puzzle of their father’s role in his tiny country’s
seemingly futile battle against the Soviet Union. Over the course of more
than a year, the sisters, who were raised and educated in the United States,
research their father’s story at the 
Hungarian
secret service archives, interview surviving ‘56ers who might have
known and fought with their father, consult with ‘56 experts, and
physically try to retrace their father’s footsteps from the first
days of the revolution, through the streets fights of early November,
until his escape through Yugoslavia to the United States.
They find out far more than they hoped for, although their father’s story takes a number of unexpected turns along the way. By the end of the film, his journey home has become their own journey to understand their father and the events that shaped both his life and their own upbringing.
The film has received financial support from the Hungarian Motion Picture Public Foundation (Magyar Mozgókép Közalapítvány, www.mmka.hu) and the Hungarian Historical Film Foundation (Magyar Történelmi Film Alapítvány, www.mtfa.hu) and is being Filmed with the expertise and guidance of historians from the 56 Institute in Budapest (’56-os Intézet, www.rev.hu).
Go the Official Site and see a Hungarian version, Film Clips, photos, and further details into this wonderful work by Master Sergeant Laszlo "Pige" Pigniczky's daughters Reka and Eszti Pigniczky.
Related Links
- Read the article on Film.hun
ALERT
/ FELHIVAS:
Looking for Robert Pongracz!
Magyarul:
Keressuk Pongracz Robertet (szul: Budapest, 1933.IV.24,
anyja neve: Grosswirth Maria) aki 1956-ban Budapesten szabadsagharcos
volt, utana rovidesen disszidalt. Honvedsegi katonatiszt volt, alhadnagy,
az Almassy Ter illetve Royal Szallo csoport egyik vezetosegi tagja. Tovabba
barmilyen kapcsolatot keresunk a Royalistakhoz, illetve a VII. Keruletben
levo Almassy teri csoporthoz. A ãHazateres: egy szabadsagharcos
tortenete cimu dokumentumfilmhez keressuk Pongracz Robertet (a filmrol
bovebben az alabbiakban). Kerjuk irjanak a film rendezojenek, Pigniczky
Rekanak: rekarita@yahoo.com.
English:
We are looking for any information about Robert Pongracz
(born: Budapest, April 24, 1933, mother's maiden name: Maria Grosswirth),
who was a freedom fighter in 1956 and who fled Hungary shortly thereafter.
He was an officer in the Hungarian army and fought with the Almassy Ter
group (later the Royal Hotel group). We believe he would be able to help
us with our film ("Journey Home: a Story from the Hungarian Revolution
of 1956") and that he may have information about Laszlo Pigniczky
and the Royal Hotel group. Please contact the filmÕs director,
Reka Pigniczky at rekarita@yahoo.com.
Are you or your organization planning an event for the 50th Anniversary of 1956? AHF is calling on all local organizations to coordinate efforts to ensure that this important event receives national and worldwide attention.
Member organizations receive publicity on the AHF Website and eNewsletters. Importantly, AHF can serve as a central information resource for all.
All are invited to help both local organizations and AHF in its own efforts at commemorating 1956 in the Nation's Capital!
AHF needs volunteers and funds to make our bold
and far-reaching goals a reality...
Join AHF and help us coordinate events around the nation and the world.
Contact info@americanhungarianfederation.org
or click the image below to Contribute
or join online!
(You do not need to become a member to donate. The American Hungarian Federation is a tax-exempt 501c(3) organization.)
