"What we can do, though, is remember the hurt, reluctant, hesitant man who nonetheless soaked up anger, delusion and a whole nation's blind hope." (György Petri)

The life of Imre Nagy, here dramatized by acclaimed director, Marta Meszaros, is one of the definitive stories of 20th Century history. He was the first Communist leader to become the symbol of a national revolution, a prime minister, a denouncer of the Warsaw Pact, and an advocate of multiparty democracy. The film makes an attempt to throw light on the life of the prime minister from a different angle, and to present his story through a subjective point of view, starting from the swirl of 1956, to his execution, to telling events after his death in contemporary Hungary. Meszcros creates a rich fictional portrait of Nagy's life and times, detailing the various factions and tensions that coursed through Hungarian politics during those pivotal moments of '56 and beyond.

Hungary: 50 Years After 1956

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956, a watershed year in that Central European nation's modern history, the Canadian Film Institute in Ottawa assembled this package of four films which deal, in various cinematic styles, with the tumultuous events of October 1956. This series is presented in collaboration with Embassy of the Republic of Hungary (Ottawa) and Magyar Filmunio (Budapest). Special thanks to the National Arts Centre (Ottawa).