Ladies and Gentlemen:

This quarterly letter is to update you on the latest developments on the feature-length documentary film project “Torn from the Flag” about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, its international participants and its significant global effects.

Please allow us first and foremost to wish you the most joyous Holiday and Christmas season and most wonderful new year possible!

And we’re off! The big news this quarter is that we started shooting in October in Budapest; this marks the official beginning of shooting. Principal photography is scheduled for the beginning of next year.

Our fund-raising at the Hungarian House of San Diego went well. We owe great thanks to the team of people who prepared and executed this event: Zoltan Gidofalvi provided the venue, and his wife Agnes Gidofalvi the delicious pogácsa pastries. Laszlo and Judit Baranyi acted as organizers, sponsors and hosts. Livia Erdos provided the stuffed cabbage dinner, Lajos Meszaros acted as treasurer, Jozsef Jonak provided the beverages, Rita Dobosi took charge of the table settings and serving the food, and Zoltan Dobosi took care of our sound amplification needs. Georgina Hegedos tirelessly came down to San Diego, and within two weeks traveled to Boston for us, to provide the entertainment once again. She is always there for us and we can’t thank her enough. Gabor Koranyi, the artist who created an etching with the same name as the film, honored us with his presence. We received generous funds from: Magdalene Snell Anderson; Marta and Sandor Bajor (two donation checks!); Les and Jolan Barran; Joseph and Margaret Botka; Paul and Eva Dvorsky; Zoltan and Agnes Gidofalvi; Gabriel and Gaetane Harkay; Shanti Hofshi; Kalman and Erzsebet Holdy; Gabrielle Ivany; Janos Kantor; Dezso and Judith Kozmary; Kenneth and Holly Liu; Louis and Whitney Mesaros; Janice and George Mismas (second donation check); Charles and Verneida Molnar; Eugene and Alice Nagy; Zoltan and Sarolta Petro; Emese Radvanszky; Chris and Lucy Renko; The Summer Place; Martha Toro; Klara Toth; Elizabeth Tuba; Vilmos Vegh; and Eric and Ann Vomel.

Thank you also to our Boston fund-raising event staff! Gabor Garay provided the venue for our event, and Anna Balogh’s tireless organizational efforts were instrumental. Andrea Batorfi, Anthony Lorizio and the Balogh Family were our hosts. Mr. Lorizio is a Harvard-educated business expert; he generously offered his business advice and help to our project for no charge. We received generous donations from: Marika Barnett; Dr. Gisella G. Garan; Thomas and Margaret Jacobovits; Joseph F. and Charlotte Kruy; Leslie Muray; Fritz and Luciana Noymer; Thomas and Judith Sasdi; and Ivan Sipos.

Separately from these fund-raising events, we also received generous donations from the following: American Hungarian Federation. Inc.; Anonymous for $5000; Gabor Beszedes; Laszlo and Maria Cser; Leslie and Jolan Csordas; Valerie Delacorte; Thomas Filep (second donation check); Judith and Victor Fischer; Mr. and Mrs. Imre I. Gazda; Laszlo and Eva Gutay; Helen Horvath (second cash donation); Hungarian Cultural Center of Northeastern Ohio; Christine Kirchner; George Kralik, D.D.S.; Steve M.J. and Beatrix J. Kun-Szabo; Susan M. Nagy-Luks (second donation check); George and Diane Nagy; George and Judith Olah (second donation check); John Rengstorff (second donation check); Seattle-Pecs Sister City Association (second donation check); Geza Simon, M.D (second donation check); Frank Terenyi; and the William Penn Association (second donation check).

We have been offered several in-kind donations this quarter: All-Year Income Tax offered their accounting expertise. Dennis F. Fredricks at Fredricks & Von der Horst donated 20 hours of entertainment law services. Zsolt Krajcsik is a computer animation specialist working at one of the industry’s most prominent companies, called ImageWorks. He, too, offered his help. And Laszlo Beres and Charlotte Remenyik offered their translation and research services.

Please allow me to introduce our illustrious Writer! Endre Hules lost his father to the Communist regime. Before Mr. Hules’s expulsion from Hungary, he was a director with the Hungarian National Theater, and then went on to direct at the Biennale de Paris, the Williamstown Theater Festival, the Shakespeare World Congress, and many other venues. His plays and screenplays have been produced around the world, and currently he has three feature screenplays in pre-production in Europe, one of which he is slated to direct next summer. He also appeared as an actor in close to a hundred films and television shows, and is a recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Award, among many others. He has taught writers, directors, and actors at institutions such as NYU, USC, Bard College, Smith College, Espace Acteur, and at master classes on three continents.

We would also like to acknowledge Andras Krasznoi for his consultant work on our project. Mr. Krasznoi is an Associate Executive at Bikkal TV - New York City. He has an extensive background in film, especially as a writer and director, specializing in historical subjects.

Associate Producer George Adams has more than 15 years’ experience serving as producer, director and editor on several independent film, documentary and television projects including Dead World, an IFILM Halloween Pick; Gems, a short film nominated for Best Short by Torrance Cable Television; It Hurts to be a Rebel, a documentary about gang members and their body art; and Max, a video about a young homeless man on the streets of Los Angeles. Mr. Adams is also an award-winning theatrical producer and director of such notable plays as The Insanity of Mary Girard, nominated in New York as Spotlight On’s Best Director and winner of the Best Ensemble Cast Award; Fool For Love, a Torry Award winner for Best Play and Best Supporting Actor; The Boys Next Door, a Dramalogue Best Ensemble Cast Award winner; the West Coast premiere of the Hercule Poirot mystery Black Coffee; and the critically-acclaimed Love Letters with American television star Marion Ross.

We are being very careful to be as historically accurate as possible in our film, and are actively enlisting the expertise of historians for this purpose. Professor Zoltan Kramar of Central Washington University is such a one; he is being of great assistance to us as a member of our Board of Advisors. This is an unpaid, honorary position.

We would like to thank all those publications and websites that carried articles about us this quarter: American Hungarian Journal in the USA; Tarogato in Canada; Hirek in Washington, Napsugar in Australia; American Hungarian Panorama, a worldwide magazine; www.gimagine.com in New York; and www.magyarszo.net in Texas. We also heard through the grapevine that several other publications have written about us. Since we have not received copies of these articles, we do not know what they were…please let us know!

In New York, Bikkal TV, the Hungarian TV Magazine of New York and the Hungarian TV Magazine of Queens also featured the film.

This quarter I met the leaders and some members of the American Hungarian Federation in New Jersey. They were very supportive of our project and also made a donation, for which we are grateful. They are featuring our project on their website, at www.americanhungarianfederation.com. The AHF is planning a complex 50th anniversary celebration of 1956; we are looking forward to cooperating with them.

During my trip I met with Per Bang-Jensen, the son of Paul Bang-Jensen—the UN diplomat who died mysteriously after supporting the Freedom Fighters—to gather further information and additional ideas. I found this meeting very useful, and would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Bang-Jensen.

In Toronto I participated in the annual International Congress of History Producers (specifically, historical documentary film producers). I met with some of the most important schedulers of historical television programming in the world; they responded very favorably to the concept of the film. I am working with them, developing relationships that will be helpful in marketing the film.

Additionally, I met with prominent members of the Toronto Hungarian community to thoroughly introduce our film project. The Hungarians in western Canada have provided exemplary support, and we are hoping that eastern Canada will do the same…

We would like to thank Denes Demenyi for offering his original photographs taken in 1956 at no charge for use in our film. Jerry Bolick did the same with unique, one-of-a-kind pictures he has in his possession. We are also in communication with Bela Kalman of Boston, who is also very ready to be of service to our project with his photographs.

We have been fortunate to add several highly competent members to our team, sometimes on a short-term basis, sometimes more long-term. We found a fabulous short-term UCLA film student intern, Martin Kisselov; he has helped us with organizational, research and fund-raising projects. We’d like to acknowledge Julie Draskoczy for her research work earlier this year. And we are the luckiest people to have found the most fabulous Production Assistant in Kinga Toth. Please treat any emails from Kinga as coming from the Producer, i.e., myself, directly; we have needed to divide the workload more between us.

We are pleased to report that we have sold out of the Christina Kiss Franz Liszt CDs. Thanks to all those who supported us by purchasing her beautiful music!

Guiding Stars, an English-language novel by Julius Ling is still available for purchase for US$20.00. Purchase this moving book by replying via email.

As mentioned above, multi-award-winning fine artist Gabor Koranyi (www.gaborkoranyi.com) created an original, limited edition, multiple-color etching entitled “Torn from the Flag.” The 15” x 12” etching is available for purchase. This limited edition consists of only 150 prints; they are available framed for $450.00 each and without a frame at $300.00 each. The artist will generously donate 50% of the sales toward the production costs of the film. Orders are being taken now. Reserve this wonderful fine art piece for yourself or a loved one. We wish to acknowledge Susan Nagy-Luks, a fine art expert, for offering to assist us in selling Mr. Koranyi’s etchings.

We have continued this quarter to work very hard to raise the money for this film. However, we are still not there. We need to acquire as close to our full budget figure as possible to create the quality project this subject deserves, especially with the 50th anniversary approaching. In fact, it is customary to have 80% of the budget on hand before shooting starts. We do not have that, but nonetheless have begun shooting and will continue as far as the current funds allow. We hope that the American-Hungarian community will come through for this cause.

There are several things the project still needs and welcomes:

• We are still looking for an airline sponsor.
• We welcome travel-related in-kind donations, e.g., airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc.
• Website-designer volunteers who are willing to design and maintain the film’s website.
• A press and marketing specialist who is willing to donate his/her time and knowledge to the project.
• We are seeking ‘56-related, never-before- or seldom-published visual materials and mementos from Hungary from the 50's. These could be anything from buttons to postcards. We ask that you send us a list of what you have. We are interested in newspapers, but only if it was a special issue (e.g., a newspaper from the day Stalin died).

Again, it is imperative for us to complete the budget in the very near future in order to be able to complete the film in time for the 2006 anniversary. Donations are tax-deductible for US taxpayers. New this quarter: we are most pleased to be able to now offer the ease of donating online! Please access the following link on the Internet: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=78761. Additional financial opportunities are still available, as is the possibility to donate using your credit card or by personal check. If you would like to donate stock, the International Documentary Association is able to handle the selling for you. If interested, please contact us via email.

If you supported “Torn From the Flag” last year, kindly consider matching your 2003 contribution in 2004. Do not hesitate to inform your family and friends either! Please take action and make your donation check payable to the International Documentary Association, write “Torn from the Flag” in the memo section, and mail it to:

Klaudia Kovacs, Producer / Director
1626 North Wilcox Avenue #393
Hollywood, CA 90028

Many people have asked me why I decided to do this project. Allow me to explain. I was born in Hungary many years after the uprising, still during the communist era. My family suffered under the communist regime and although by the time I was growing up the brutality had mostly ceased, not all effects of Soviet communism had been erased. In school my generation was miseducated; we were raised on a communist lie that the events of 1956 were a “counter-revolution,” not a nation’s struggle for freedom. Even then I was suspicious as to why we were not given more details even when we asked directly.

After moving to the United States I got an inkling of the truth and found out the details of the Hungarian Revolution by way of conversations with the people we call the “56-ers”—the surviving Hungarian participants, both women and men (and sometimes children), some of whom had been severely tortured under that regime. I became passionate about the subject and decided that it is very important to educate people all over the world about the facts and importance of the uprising, including the new generation of children and teenagers in the United States and Hungary.

Thank you again for your interest in and generous support of this important educational project.