The Hungarian Dressmaker

Marika, a Hungarian widow dressmaker shelters a little Czech Jewish boy in her home on the Slovak-Hungarian border during the turbulent years of WW2 and the wartime Slovak State. Based on Peter Krištúfek’s novella Emma and the Death’s Head and inspired by true events, the screening marks the Holocaust Memorial Day.

It’s the 1940s. The Slovak state witnesses the rise of nationalism and it’s not an auspicious time for minorities. The turbulent social mood also impacts the widow Marika, who loses her job in an Aryanised dressmaker’s shop. Given the increasing anti-Hungarian sentiment, she shuts herself away, particularly since she is also harbouring a little Jewish boy. Despite this, she still finds herself singled out by two men: a German Nazi officer and a captain of Slovakia’s Hlinka Guard. This drama by Slovak director Iveta Grófová is an adaptation of the novella by Peter Krištúfek, which conjures up the dramatic atmosphere of wartime Slovakia. The story of a fragmented era, which forces the protagonists to confront complex dilemmas, is told not only through words but also by way of a powerful visual language.

Iveta Grófová, Czech Republic/Slovakia, 2024, 129‘
Cast Alexandra Borbély, Nico Klimek, Milan Ondrík, Alexander E. Fennon

Tickets £8.30 see booking link below

Premiered at the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2024