The film deals with „the Hungarian issue“ in Czechoslovakia after the World War II. and an imaginary chess game between Slovaks and Hungarians in times when there is no place for black and white vision. The documentary dusts up old stories of Slovaks and Hungarians whose lives were affected by decisions of big rulers.

 

Film about love, home and (not so) right decisions. 

This is my personal story. The personal storyline of me and my grandmother in the film, story of searching for my roots, home and identity is based on my grandmother’s wish to bring Hungarian soil from her hometown Komlos to her mother’s grave because it was her wish before she died. My trip to Hungary and the eventual bringing of the Hungarian soil on my great grandmother’s the grave is a frame of this film and an authentic moment of personal interest in family history and also the great history. 

I am focused on intimate personal stories of simple people affected by decisions of coldhearted ruling governments, that concluded in broken relationships, loves, left-alone families, broken lovers and fiancées, left-alone loved animals and empty houses. After World War II.  governments started to put in right order the whole Europe, as Germans left Czech republic, Slovak people wanted to send away Hungarians or tried to make Slovaks out of them. They couldn’t transfer them as Germans, so Hungary and Czechoslovakia made a deal: as many Slovaks wanted to come back to Slovakia, so many Hungarians had to go back to Hungary. It sounds like an insane moving of nations and to be honest it is a real black mark on central European history.

My personal storyline is similar to a frame where is my grandmother wish at the beginning of the film, the journey and eventual fulfillment of my great grandmother’s longing for her homeland, it also gives me the opportunity to be a storyteller and a guide through other stories, to open them, comment them as if they were fairytales or ballads. This complicated structure of the film creates a construction similar to a tree where the diary is the trunk and other stories are the branches.

Another storyline is based on a diary of Emil Samarjay , Hungarian citizen in Bratislava who after WW II. with his daughter Livia was placed in a camp, where during war were held Jews. His personal story starts on 6. May 1945 when he got in there and it ends after his admission, when coming communism abandons „ the Hungarian issue“ and the issue slowly fades away, nobody cares about lost homes, loves, beloved animals and deep connection to homeland. He was separated from his wife, who could stay in town to take care of his sick mother. I have the diary from Emil Samarjay’s offspring. I consider it as clear and strong evidence of the atmosphere and conditions not only in the camp, but as well in the town and in the whole Slovakia.

 

More from diary for instance:

 

8th May 1945

President Edvard Benes was expected in the town, so bridge was closed. In the evening Russian soldiers that were living with us were drinking. We were worried of our women, but except small arguments nothing serious happened. nI the town the whole night was shooting in honor of the peace.

 

3rd July 1945

In the Hungarian colony was born a child. Tomorrow we are going to bring a present to Sandor’s child.

 

9th July 1945

Today it was eclipse of sun. We were looking it through a piece of broken smoked glass.

 

25th July 1945

This day we had a thirty anniversary of our wedding-day. We celebrated it with a can of meat and corn.

 

23rd December 1945

In the afternoon we decorated a Christmas tree in the canteen for the children. Each of 110 children received a half kilogram of sweets. In the evening we decorated  a  Christmas tree also for us with my Livia.

 

 

10th January 1946

 Today it was our 250th  day here. How long it will take?

 

1st December 1945

From this day Hungarians cannot walk in the street after 5 and those who are working have to be at home at 7.