Home is relative

“I don’t want to be Hungarian. I want to be anAmerican-Hungarian.”

Home is Relative is about Hungarians livingin the United States since the end of WWII - through the eyes of their childrenwho, after growing up in the West, have in large numbers “re-emigrated” toHungary since the transition to democracy in 1990. They now live in a placethey’ve always called ‘home’ but never actually lived in, and only heard aboutfrom their parents.

The lives and emotions of theseHungarian-Americans are complex and compelling - neither here nor there, theyare the product of tight-knit exile communities from Philadelphia to Clevelandto Los Angeles that ‘incubated'  them toreturn to the Motherland one day.  Ineach story, one sibling has moved ‘back’ to Hungary,while the other has stayed in the U.S.

One of the sibling pairs will most likelybe the director and her sister, Eszti Pigniczky. The idea for this film wasborn of the documentary film they co-directed in 2006, Journey Home, whichincluded a short segment about their Hungarian-American community near Philadelphia.

Being Hungarian in exile was always verydifferent than being a Hungarian at ‘home,' especially during the Cold War (inwhich the U.S. was one ofthe two protagonists and Hungarywas behind the Iron Curtain.)  And since1989, the story of those that left the U.S. and those that stayed in thenew ‘home’ has been reversed and ironies abound. Meanwhile, being an"immigrant" has taken on a whole new meaning in a globalized  world.

The film will be rich in 8mm archive films,taken by Hungarian immigrants in the 1950’s and 60’s, as well as visuals ofmodern-day Hungaryand the past 20 years of ‘new democracy.’

Director: Réka Pigniczky

Script-writers:  Endre Szentkirályi and Réka Pigniczky

Producer: Barnabas Gerő

Editor: László Hargittai, H.S.E.

Story-Editor: Pierre-Olivier Francois

56Films received a grant from the HungarianMotion Picture Foundation of Hungary for project development, as well as aproduction grant from the Hungarian Historical Film Foundation.  The film is currently in the research andcasting phase in Budapest, Hungary, with plans for completionaround 2010, for the 20th anniversary of the transition.