This week, the documentary film Peace - Above the Nations will be shown in domestic cinemas.
The work is called the truest Trianon story. Among other things, it seeks answers to questions such as what happened to the Hungarian negotiating delegation visiting France after January 7, 1920, or how the events reached the point where the parties signed the contract on June 4, 1920.
A serious team of experts worked on this film, Dorottya Helmeczy revealed. According to the film's producer, this film was intended for the year of national unity in 2020, but then it was washed away by the pandemic. However, this increased the time available for research by two and a half years. He added: according to the original plans, the film would have focused on the work of the peace delegation, but recent research has proven that by the time we could go to Paris, the Western countries had already concluded their own pacts.
The finished 90-minute film tells the story of everything that happened at the peace talks, while using feature film elements, which make the scenes much more relatable. According to Dorottya Helmeczy
More than a hundred years after Trianon, a film was born that makes it clear to everyone what really happened at the peace negotiations.
According to the historian Áron Máthé, who also speaks in the film, economic and military pressure forced our country to sign peace terms. In the case of the former, the historian highlighted the blockade of the Entente powers, which was maintained not only during the war, but also after the armistice. Modern German historians estimate that roughly one million Germans lost their lives during this time due to starvation following the war. In terms of proportions, the situation was similar in Hungary.
There was no heating material, no food, the country's economy was in ruins, as the foreign occupying forces broke up the previously unified economic space.
In Hungary, the left-wing regime marked by the name of Mihály Károlyi did not even try to protect the borders in 1918. The Soviet Republic already made an attempt to do this, but it did not succeed. By August 1919, we had no effective military force left. The country was stunned. The film presents and makes it possible to experience what happened at that time.
The viewers can see into the hellish dilemma of the members of the peace delegation, since by the time they were invited to Paris, everything had already been decided, the great powers had already drawn the Czechoslovak-Romanian-Serbian border between them. The Hungarian delegation faced this in Paris. Still, they tried the impossible, and we can't appreciate that enough.
Dorottya Helmeczy, the film's producer, added: the feature film elements are emphasized. He stated: the actions of the peace delegation in France were completely filmed. The history is also presented from archival materials, and the spectacle is complemented by the many speaking historians. The creators depict our losses with visual graphics. As a Hungarian film, this is the first in this genre. He added that many Hungarians still live beyond our borders. On the one hand, the movie can help the youth to understand this, but the work also serves to strengthen the sense of identity.
Featured image source: Magyar Nemzet
