New film about the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

TORN FROM THE FLAG

NEWSLETTER – MAY 2007

“A nation that is capable of limitless sacrifice is capable of rising to limitless heights. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the progress.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Ladies and Gentlemen:

This progress report is to update you on the latest developments regarding the full-length documentary film project Torn from the Flag, about the fall of communism and the significant global effects of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Freedom Fight.

I'm thrilled to announce that, after 8½ years of hard work, we have completed the film! It was a process that was sometimes extremely joyous and sometimes very hard, but always worth it.

Before completion, we had a small, closed preview screening and we got very positive feedback: 91% of the audience thought the film was “Excellent” or “Very Good.” 89% thought it was “Highly Engaging” or “Engaging.” And 92% would “Highly Recommend” or “Recommend” the film to their friends. So, the polls are very promising. As mentioned before, we also sent off the film to several historians to make sure that the film has no historical inaccuracies. We sent it off to the experts at the Cold War Institute at Harvard University and at the 1956 Institute. We got the following feedback: “Perhaps the best documentary ever made on 1956”; “a really great movie on 1956”; “the documentary is excellent” and “exceptionally well-made and even stirring.” So we are very excited about sharing it with you, our donors and supporters, and about showing it to the general public.

We also have completed our beautiful new film poster! Our graphic designer Chris Kirk worked wonders and we are very happy with it.

There are a few things that we will still need before we are able to release the film into the world. As explained in detail in our last newsletter, we are still seeking a distributor for the film, and one of the strategies we are employing for that is submitting to film festivals; therefore we still need your sponsorship for our participation in film festivals. Every film festival has various fees/expenses; the budget did not include this, as the budget is only for making the film. Expenses that need to be covered are:

· Festival Submission Fees (average: $40 - $200)

· Publicity materials--if you are in the printing business, you can help by printing our materials.

· Travel expenses to/from festivals, room and board--donating airline miles is one way you can help with this.

Secondly, the requirements set by the Academy for a film to be eligible to be considered for the Oscar® were made much more difficult to meet this year than previously: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/32569. Qualifying has basically become a game for the financially privileged and the filmmakers need your help. Please participate in the film being eligible to be considered for the Oscar®! For this, we need to hold screenings of the film and we are urgently seeking communities in North America that would be willing to host screenings and fill the seats. This, too, was explained in fuller detail in our January newsletter: "The first step to sponsoring an Academy-required screening in your community is to let us know you are interested; we will then give you the exact parameters required by the Academy."

If you can't help with the screenings themselves, please send a tax-deductible donation for this purpose.

U.S. taxpayers: If your donation is greater than $5,000, please write your check payable to the Hungarian American Coalition. If your donation is less than $5000, kindly write your check payable to the International Documentary Association. In either case, please write the words "Torn from the Flag" in the memo section, and mail the check to:

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

The Hungarian American Coalition or the International Documentary Association will send you a receipt within 30 days so that you may use your gift as a tax deduction. Additional financial opportunities are still available.

It's important to note that every film has a different distribution and release plan, and therefore no film's plan can be compared to another's. I mention this because the community has experience with some documentary films; however, no two films are released at the same speed or in the same way. In general, the higher-profile a film is, the more time and preparation distribution and release involve.

Meanwhile, if you cannot wait and would like a small taste of the film, the trailer is posted on YouTube.com. It has now been viewed 1,611 times and "favorited" 22 times. Viewers rate it at four stars. Please tell your friends about it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwAYVnuBpfw

Thank you to the Hungarian Veterans' Association of Calgary for their donation this quarter, and to the Hungarian American Coalition for their ongoing support.

Thank you also to Tom Ormeny, Dennis Fredricks and Alex Veadov for their kind help this quarter. Last, but not least, thank you to Csaba Hrotko, Zoltan Hrotko and Paul Stevenson for their voiceover acting services.

Thank you for your continuing interest in and support of this project. Approximately 2000 individuals and organizations helped in some way to make this film a reality. Some of you have been there since the beginning 8½ years ago, and some of you came on more recently; either way, your support has made this film possible and we are truly thankful. I would like to point out that this level of collaboration has never happened before in the North American Hungarian immigrant community: we can be very proud of ourselves as a community for coming together in this way. We are thankful, as well, for those non-Hungarians who were kind enough to help this special film. All the donors who ever gave any amount of money or services, excepting those who requested to remain anonymous, were included in the rolling credits at the end of the film.

Please let us know if you have changed your email address, so that we can keep you informed about screenings and the premiere! And let your friends and family know about this community project: ask them to send us their email address, so that they can be informed of our screenings too.

We are so looking forward to sharing our film with you!

Gratefully yours,

Klaudia Kovacs

http://www.klaudiainc.com

klaudiakovacs@msn.com

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