Hunky Blues – The American Dream
Hungary2009documentary100'Retrospektywa Pétera Forgácsa (2020)
The history of Hungarian immigration to the US in the early 1900s. A variety of testimonies, letters read out off-screen, family photographs and takes from the period reflect the feverish rhythm the life in the new world and well as its paradoxes in an evocative way. The fascination with the democracy freed from the rigid framework of the class system of post-feudal Europe is mixed with the fear instilled by economic exploitation on an unprecedented scale. And although this multi-thread fresco made of detailed accounts impresses with its panache, the human being with his or her fears and dreams lost in the tangle of history has always remained in its centre.
- directed by
- Péter Forgács
Media artist and independent filmmaker based in Budapest whose works have been exhibited worldwide. He has made more than thirty films, including the best-known award-winning series Private Hungary based on home movies from the 1930s and 1960s. His international debut came with The Bartos Family (1988), which was awarded the Grand Prix of the World Wide Video Festival in the Hague. In 1983, Forgács established the Private Photo & Film Archives Foundation (PPFA) in Budapest, an exceptional collection of amateur film footage which served as the raw data for his unique re-orchestrations of history. In 2002, the Getty Research Institute held an exhibit of his installation “The Danube Exodus: Rippling Currents of the River”. He has received several international festival awards and his films were presented at many international festivals around the world. His highly recognized works are part of numerous public museum and university collections.
- music
- János Másik
- sound
- Tamás Zányi
- editing
- Péter Sass
- production
- Gábor Kovács
- Photo
- Trailer