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TORN FROM THE FLAG – July, 2005

"…out of tragedy magnificence is sometimes born."
Unknown

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This quarterly progress report 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 and its significant global effects.

I must express my utmost gratitude to you, our supporters, for the fact that, in spite of our having held no fundraising events this quarter, we have continued receiving donations.

I am pleased to report the following good news:

Please allow me to introduce one of our Directors of Photography. Cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, armed with a hidden camera, filmed the Hungarian uprising while a film student in his native country. Since 1964, he has come to be one of the premier cinematographers of his day, having shot such films as the classic Easy Rider; Five Easy Pieces; What’s Up, Doc? and Paper Moon. Other notable films include Frances, Ghostbusters and Mask, and most recently My Best Friend’s Wedding and Miss Congeniality. He has won several awards, including two Golden Laurel Awards, the Hollywood Discovery Award, and an Excellence in Cinematography award at the Hawaii International Film Festival. He has also been honored with three Lifetime Achievement awards, at WorldFest Flagstaff (1999), the Camerimage Festival (1998) and, most notably, from the American Society of Cinematographers (2002). His eye for beauty and composition are unique; he is a true master of his craft.

This quarter, we held shoots in New York; Boston and Amherst, Massachusetts; and Los Angeles. Our thanks to all who helped:

In Boston: Honorary Consul Gabor Garay, and Linda Tocchio of his staff, for providing the location, hospitality and food; Anna Balogh and Tamas Toro for volunteering as Production Assistants; and Mrs. Karoly Balogh for generously contributing to our local hotel bill. We would like to thank the Harvard University historian Professor Mark Kramer as well as the Amherst College historian Professor William Taubman for helping us to make our film historically and scientifically correct. Also, we were really proud to have Stephen Bores act as sound man; he was the sound man for filmmaker Errol Morris’ Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2004).

For the Los Angeles shoot, our thanks go to: Panavision, for generously providing the location and equipment; Phil Radin, Executive Vice President of Panavision; his Assistant Cheryl Whitbread and Chris Gurrola, Stage Manager. Volunteers: Lillie Farkas, Production Assistant; Roland Dobos, Second Assistant Camera; Jeremiah Levy and Arpad Varga for HD tape transfers; Mr. Varga also provided transportation for one of our interviewees. We would like to thank those interviewees who were kind enough to let us in on their very intimate and personal experiences. We were also shooting some “making of the documentary” behind-the-scenes footage that will appear on our DVD release; Laszlo Kovacs, Director of Photography for this shoot, was able to spend some time in front of the camera as well as behind it, giving us a rare interview about his involvement with our project. I take as high praise his compliment that I am a “very good producer.”

For our first New York shoot, we owe thanks to the New York Hungarian Consulate and Peter Sarkozy, Deputy Consul General, our main liaison for the shoot at the Consulate; Edith Lauer; Emese Latkoczy at the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation; our illustrious interviewee, Otto von Habsburg. Volunteers: Andras Krasznoi, location scout; and Tamas Toro, again our Production Assistant.

For our second New York shoot, thank you to: Michael Korda for his important role in this shoot coming together, as well as to Peter Sarkozy, Deputy Consul General, to Gabor Horvath, Consul General, and the New York Hungarian Consulate. Volunteers: Gabriella Gyorffy, Photographer; Stephen Dypiangco, Production Assistant; Kurt Davis, Second Unit Camera; Livia Sylva for lodging, Andras Krasznoi for transportation and lodging, Akos Szilagyi and Arpad Szabo for transportation. Thank you to our New York interviewees who also kindly gave their very personal stories. Thank you also to the following experts: Dr. Henry Kissinger, an authority on the Cold War from the U.S.’s perspective; Ambassador William J. vanden Heuvel, Member of the International Rescue Committee, which reviewed the Hungarian refugee situation in Austria in November 1956; and Professor Richard Filipink, Eisenhower expert, of State University of New York at Fredonia.

We will not hold any fund-raising events in the near future because making the film is taking up all of our time. Now we are relying on people sending us checks directly (please see instructions and address below). Since our last newsletter, we received generous donations from the following, listed by the date of the donation:

Stephen and Judith B. Oroszlan; Nicholas J. and Ruby Jakab; Elizabeth Magay; Julius G. and Emilia Nagy; John and Shirley L. Kadlecsik; Marta and Gusztav Varnagy; Piroska Bobar; Joszef and Zsuzsanna Takacs; Yolan Giczi; Laszlo Benedek; Zsolt and Fodor; John and Maria Palinkas; Dr. Csaba B. and Agnes Neusch; Lajos and Maria Szabo; Dr. Leslie M. Hammel and Eszter Moritz Hammel; Indar and Marta Sarransingh; Attila G. Kovacs; Eugene J. and Maria Sumegi; Laszlo and Maria Gossler; Elizabeth V. Csordas; Aloysius N. and Gabriela Remetei; Marta Salon of Beauty; Stephen B. Modly, Jr. and Yolande S. Jeney Modly; Elizabeth and Bela Csordas; Maria and Richard Repasy; William Cziro; Hedvig Posgay; Agnes Toth; Dr. Leslie Dozsa; Atilla Huszar; Gabroella Oroszi; Tamas and Maria Kutrovatz; John Franyo; Ernest and Magda Reinelt; Julius and Erika Gyorfi; Stephen Mechtler, M.D. and Katalin M. Mechtler, D.D.S.; Paul and Margo E. Treer; Balazs and Carrie A. Makai; Elizabeth Timar; Tibor G. and Marta M. Rusznyak; Steve M.J. and Beatrix J. Kun-Szabo; Margit and James M. Varga; R.G. Financial; Janos Csoma; Attila and Ester Marosy; Phillip Aronoff, Stonenet, Inc.; Laszlo and Gabrielle Hegedus; Josef Kovacs/Josef’s Painting & Paper Hanging; Balazs Gerloczy and Orsolya Thaly; Maria and Imre Mohai; Stephen Fekete; Joseph A. Hock; Miklos Nemeth; Joseph C. and Julia Palotay; Jeanette Grasselli Brown; Helen A. Szilay; Sigmund M. and Gabrielle M. Csicsery; A. Szente; Edith Rozsa; G.A.S. International; Hungarian-American Club, Inc.; Karoly and Judith Balogh; Laszlo S. Beres; Kalman J. and Dolores A. Takacs; Tibor and Judith E. Farkas; Susanna Balatoni; Judit S. Wagner; Irene K. Lassovszky; Ilona Serfozo; Klari Ronay; Norbert and Dora Seyr; Edith M. Tuberty; Gaspar Toth and Olga Pongracz Toth; Violet and Frank Nemeth; Gyorgy E. and Joli M. Revesz; Joseph and Evelyn Domjan; Steven and Elsbeth Tabor; Tomany and Maria L. Szilagyi; Theodore J. Szor; Ferenc Horvath; Imre and Jacqueline Zagora; Sandor and Etelka Simon; Laszlo and Mariann Suran; Helen Balogh; Gyula G. and Maria Serfozo; Maria Lovasz; Marie F. Lovasz; Steven A. Lovasz; Bela I. and Irene Wurtzler; Leslie St. George; Laszlo and Ella Boros; Citrom Family Trust; Baran Chi; Maria Temesvary; Peter Pusztai; George O. Fuhrmann; John Lilli; Gabriella Kiss; Goldie Aranka Fodor; Julius Kaprinyak, Sr. and Szerenke K. Kaprinyak; George and Maria Serban; Gabriel S. and Elisabeth T. Ablonczy; Elizabeth and Samim Zarali, Friends of United Way—Hungary; United Hungarian Fund, Toronto, Canada; Magyar Club of Dayton; Prof. Laszlo Baksay; Jack and Bette Tokar; Karoly and Elizabeth Simon; Kalman and Jolan Kopcsandy; Gabriel Lengyel; Charles Akos Szabo and Luz A. Moreno; Laszlo L. and Gabriella A. Kurczinak; Eugene D. and Erika Banathy; Andrew L. and Maria Vagvolgyi; Laszlo Czettler; Aloyse F. and Anna M. Gacs; Piroska Betegh; Czingula Janos; Julius and Rozalia Farkas.

Additionally, we owe gratitude to the following people and organizations for their service to this project: The Hungarian Historical Association of Zurich for historical advice and assistance; Professor Berend Istvan and Dr. Peter Sager for their historic expertise; Mike Gabrawy, a seasoned Hollywood independent producer, for his expertise; Istvan Pazsitszky and Pannon Telecom for informing its customers about the film project; Congressman Tom Lantos and Mrs. Annette Lantos for introducing the project in the U.S. House of Representatives: www.huembwas.org/News2/LantosTornFlag.htm

We would like to acknowledge Marina Goldovskaya, our former intern Martin Kisselov’s professor of Documentary Film at UCLA; his relatives Ruta Kisselova Evstatieva, Ivo Kisselov, Raiko Evstatiev and Maria Ivanova for contributing to the project; Iliana Raicheva, journalist in the Bulgarian National Radio; and Bistra Avramova for passing on a relevant story.

The Third Resource: A Universal Ideology of Economics, by Dr. Istvan S. Tuba, Dr. Anthony Etele and Robert T. Uda, was recently published. Dr. Tuba kindly offered to donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book to our project. To place an order, please email him at itihq@aol.com.

As always, if we inadvertently leave someone out of our acknowledgements and thank-yous, please accept our most profound apologies and draw our attention to the oversight. There is further information about the project at www.klaudiainc.com/mainpage.html, under Producing, Upcoming Projects. If you see your organization’s name on the website, but not a link to its web page, this is because we don’t have the link. Please email us with it and we will add the link. If your organization is missing entirely, again, please simply let us know and we will correct this.

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we are being very careful to be as historically accurate as possible in our film, and we also wish to present the subject from as many sides as possible. We always welcome comments presented in a civilized and courteous manner.

The project still needs and welcomes the following:

Besides moving-image archive footage, we are additionally looking for a large list of archive items; please refer to the list, which appears below my name. (If you do happen to have access to moving images in the same categories, we are interested in hearing from you!) Please send any such materials by mail to the address given below for making donations. When sending the items to us, it is very important that the sender indicates whether he/she has the ownership and/or the copyright for the item, and if not, who does. If you request us to return the item to you, we will be sure to do so.

Some people wish to know exactly how much money the film budget still needs. Because of your generous donations, and also because sometimes sources of funds unfortunately fall through for various reasons, this figure is constantly changing. The approximate current amount we already have is three-fifths (3/5) of our total budget. With the 50th anniversary approaching swiftly, and considering the advanced age of some of the participants in the Revolution, acquiring as close to our full budget figure as possible so that we can shoot sooner is extremely urgent. To be able to complete the film in time for the anniversary, and to create the quality film this subject deserves, we must complete the budget as soon as possible. As stated, we are shooting and will continue as far as the current funds allow. We continue to hope and trust that the worldwide Hungarian community will keep coming through for this cause.

Donations are tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers. We are very close to finalizing the Canadian tax-exempt status; I will send out detailed instructions on how Canadian donors may complete their transactions as soon as this is complete.

Additional financial opportunities are still available, as is the possibility to donate using your credit card (www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaid=78761) or by personal check. You may also donate stock; the International Documentary Association is able to handle the selling for you. Please contact us via email if interested.

If you supported Torn from the Flag last year, kindly consider matching your previous contribution in 2005. Tell your family and friends about the project, as well! Please, take action now 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

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

Sincerely Yours,

Klaudia Kovacs
Producer, Director, Writer
www.klaudiainc.com
email: klaudiakovacs@msn.com

List of archive items (photographs, newspapers, memorabilia and various objects from the era) that we are looking for:

  1. Memorabilia from the Communist Era in Hungary from 1948-1956:
    1. Communist-era school textbooks
    2. Any Communist propaganda geared to children
    3. Posters – political, cultural and any other
  2. Budapest in the closing days of World War II – war-ravaged – cutting up dead horses on the street – the bridges all bombed out
  3. Red Army marching into Budapest: occupation
  4. Garroting of Szalasi government officials
  5. Rebuilding Budapest (workers clearing rubble, repairing buildings)
  6. General city life in Budapest of the 1950s (everyday stuff – could be family photographs)—before and after ‘56
  7. General farm life in the 1950’s, before and after ‘56
  8. Any image we can find of Hungarian and Soviet prison camps/gulags, before and after ‘56
  9. Construction of the Budapest subway—1950’s construction of Metro 2
  10. Eisenhower:
    1. 1952 and 1956 campaign advertisements, especially those in reference to Cold War, Soviets, Eastern Bloc
    2. Photographs in the White House (especially fall of 1956)
    3. Texts of speeches about Cold War, Eastern Bloc, Cold War, Hungary
    4. 1952 inauguration
    5. Eisenhower speaking about Suez
  11. Stalin:
    1. Iconic images of Stalin in the post-WWII years
    2. Images of Stalin in Budapest (It would be great if we could find the construction of the Budapest Stalin monument.)
    3. Stalin’s funeral in USSR
    4. Memorial service in Hungary
    5. Stalin at Tehran (Teheran) and Yalta
  12. AVO headquarters in the 1950’s
  13. Soviets in Hungary in the 1950’s – the occupying force – pre-1956
  14. U.S. building Cold War arsenal (the U.S. building tanks and atomic tests in Nevada)
  15. Soviets building Cold War arsenal: tanks and atomic bombs
  16. The McCarthy Senate hearings – House Committee on Un-American Activities – 1953-54
  17. Khrushchev:
    1. As much as we can find from the fall of 1956 – before and after the Hungarian Revolution
    2. Him making speeches, at parades, with family, in the Kremlin before and after the Revolution
    3. Politburo meetings before and after the Revolution
    4. Khrushchev trip to Yugoslavia – in 1956
    5. Khrushchev joking around
    6. Beating the table with his shoe at the UN
  18. Newspaper ads for radios in Hungary
  19. Polish riots in 1956
  20. Kremlin in the 1950’s (especially 1956) – Shots of the building exterior. Shots of Red Square
  21. Rajk funeral
  22. Radio Free Europe/Voice of America broadcast booth – from any time
    Everything that was ever shot of the revolution, a partial list of specifics below
  23. First demonstration in support of Polish
  24. Hungarian parliament in session
  25. Stalin Statue coming down
  26. Fight at radio
  27. Footage of John Foster Dulles in 1956
  28. Mikoyan and Suslov, ideally in Hungary, but in Moscow if that is not possible
  29. First Imre Nagy speech on balcony of Parliament
  30. Soviet tanks in the streets
  31. Parliament Square shooting
  32. First street battles
  33. Burning tanks
  34. Battle at the radio
  35. Parliament massacre
  36. Corvin Circle battles
  37. Cease-fire, post-Oct 28. Rubble in the streets, celebrating freedom fighters, new political party posters being hung, cleaning up the mess, general life in Budapest, peasants coming to the city with food, money boxes on street, Red Cross trucks
  38. Red Stars and other Communist iconography being removed, Soviet tanks leaving the city
  39. Communist crest, Hungarian crest painted on Soviet tanks
  40. Everyday life in Budapest (October 28 – November 3)
  41. Images of Kadar and Maleter and Nagy, separately and together.
  42. Family photographs of Pongratz brothers during the days of the Revolution
  43. Liberation of Cardinal Mindszenty
  44. Mindszenty being escorted into American Embassy
  45. Fight at Communist Party Headquarters. Burning of documents in the street
  46. Nagy as President
  47. Andropov in Hungary
  48. Soviet crushing of the Revolution from U.S., Europe, Soviet points of view
  49. UN – Specifics: exterior of building in 1956; anything specific to Security Council or General Assembly meetings where the subject is the Hungarian question in the fall of 1956 or votes, speeches, debate about Suez Crisis; images of U.S. UN Ambassador in ‘56; images of Hungarian ambassadors in Oct. ’56 (both the Communist one and the new government); images of Soviet Ambassador in ‘56
  50. Images of Mao in the fall of 1956 and before 1956
  51. Newspaper headlines about Suez crisis (New York Times, Pravda, London Times, and other European and Soviet papers)
  52. Ilyushin’s plane in flight
  53. Soviet tanks around Parliament
  54. First public images of Kadar as President
  55. Aftermath of the Revolution in Budapest - the rubble
  56. Daily life after the Revolution
  57. Footage of people escaping and refugee camps in Austria
  58. Firing squads and trials
  59. Copies of death certificates of those executed by the Soviets
  60. Family photographs of those executed by the Soviets
  61. Nagy trial and execution (U.S. , Hungarian, Soviet images)
  62. Newspaper headlines regarding Soviet retaliations in Hungary's neighboring countries after 1956
  63. World's reaction to the Russian invasion in 1956: Elvis on Ed Sullivan show, Zsazsa Gabor, protests in the USSR, U.S. , France, Italy, etc.
  64. Images of Kadar in 60’s, 70’s, 80’s – the transformation of the public image of the man
  65. U.S. news story about Kadar – something along the lines of “the best of the Eastern Bloc leaders – “goulash communism”
  66. Propaganda from Hungary in 60’s and 70’s—more happy Communists, May Day parades, happy children
  67. The last May Day Parade in Hungary in 1989
  68. Closeups of the Hungarian flag raised on the Statue of Liberty in 1956 and 1959
  69. Reagan speech in which he says “tear down that wall”
  70. Pan-European picnic
  71. Reburial of Nagy
  72. Iconic images from within Hungary itself as Communism falls
  73. Berlin wall falling
  74. Soviet tanks leaving Hungary in 1991
  75. Pongratz family members being knighted

Again: please send any such materials by mail to the address given above for making donations. When sending the items to us, it is very important that the sender indicate whether he/she has the ownership and/or the copyright for the item, and if not, who does. Of course, we will return the items, if this is requested! Thank you!

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