FILM

The Hungarian American Cultural Association of Houston presents a screening of Torn from the Flag,  the multi-award-winning documentary by Klaudia Kovacs, Saturday, November 6, 2010 - 6 PM.  Screening Location:  Czech Center Museum, 4920 San Jacinto at Wichita, Houston, TX 77004 (five blocks north of the Museum of Fine Arts).

Torn from the Flag is the film about the decline of communism and the significant global effects of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight, and about Hungary's struggle for a national identity against the domination of Soviet Communism with special focus on the successful armed popular rebellion of October 1956 that was put down when the Soviets invaded Budapest.
 
A handful impassioned survivors tell how they went from being idealistic communists to being fierce anti-government freedom fighters, and then the victims of brutal repression. Then in 1989, the fall of the Soviet Empire occured that was partly lead by Hungarian activists crossing the border into Austria.
 
Those who survived the crackdown in 1956 and who were alive to witness the events of 1989 finally feel that their sufferings and sacrifices have borne fruit and that their country has been redeemed.

"A documentary thriller. Superb." — Chuck Wilson, LA Weekly

"A definitive account. The most comprehensive chronicle of the Hungarian uprising yet caught on film. The film never bogs down. A lively piece of history, put together with a good deal of technical skill as well as unmistakable passion." — Stephen Farber, The Hollywood Reporter

"This was the most powerful and important film experience of my life. Klaudia Kovacs' work in tracking down all those marvelous witnesses and selecting the most illuminating and combustible quotes was unprecedented in documentary film-making." — Barry Farber, Talk Radio Network

"Easily the best documentary film on the 1956 Hungarian revolution." — István Deák, Seth Low Professor Emeritus of History, Columbia University

"A quality production satisfying the highest expectations and demands. It chains you to your seat and helps us understand what freedom truly means." — Leslie Eloed, American Hungarian Journal

"Recognition for cinematographers in general is long overdue. When it comes to Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, it's clear that the American New Wave of the late 1960s and early '70s wouldn't have flowered as it did without them." — Leonard Maltin