SYNOPSIS
30 min | USA | 2023
From Director Matt Sullivan and Award-Winning Executive Producers Justin Jarrett and Travis Capacete comes My Dear Hanna.
In 2007 Marianne Szegedy-Maszak discovered a treasure trove of letters from her father, Aladar, a former wartime diplomat who worked directly under Adolf Hitler, to her mother, Hanna, an heiress of Hungary’s most influential Jewish family at the time. These letters detail the courtship of the couple during the height of World War II as they navigate the dangers of The Holocaust.
Told from Marianne’s perspective, this story is an intimate account of the circumstances that brought Aladar and Hanna together along with the forces that nearly separated them forever. This family memoir encompasses wide reaching themes such as Hungary’s relationship with its Jewish population, the strength of love in the face of adversity, and humanity’s ability to overcome.
BACKGROUND
The Holocaust is a well studied and documented travesty that has set in motion years of generational trauma and division. The suffering, death, and fallout of European Jewish communities cannot be understated or overlooked. The stories from survivors, to this day, are the clearest example of humanity’s potential not only for violence and hatred, but for determination and love as well.
With My Dear Hanna we examine one of these stories by sitting down with Marianne Szegedy-Maszak, a daughter of two survivors. Marianne’s parents, Aladar and Hanna, experienced The Holocaust as nobody else did, Aladar as a Hungarian diplomat working under, and secretly against Adolph Hitler, and Hanna as an heiress to the wealthiest Jewish family in Hungary at the time. As their relationship had been declared illegal the couple continued their courtship in absolute secrecy to stay together. With this film we examine the hatred of the Nazis, the division of the Hungarian people in response, and the thread of light in the darkest period of human history that was Aladar and Hanna.
We don’t consider My Dear Hanna to be a war story. Despite the setting of their budding relationship, the story of Aladar and Hanna is one of love.
DIRECTOR'S NOTES
by Matt Sullivan
Being entrusted by Marianne Szegedy-Maszak with her family’s story has not only been an incredible experience, but a highlight of my career as a filmmaker. Having family members who lived through The Holocaust and the ensuing Communist Revolution in Hungary, I feel a unique attachment to sharing such a raw, emotional chapter in Hungary’s history.
As a filmmaker, I was excited to take a fresh look at a widely studied topic such as The Holocaust. We tend to think of The Holocaust in terms of victimization; of how many people died, how many families destroyed. Rarely is a story found from Europe in the 1940s of an interracial couple, especially of such social and political esteem, surviving the genocide. In this story we examine and focus on the strength of love rather than the depths of hatred. We explore how a connection between two people can impact history, increase understanding, and limit the power of intolerance.
Love is at the center of this film, and has been since the beginning.
As our society becomes more divided, with some groups going so far as to deny the sheer existence of The Holocaust, I, along with our team, take immense pride in telling a Hungarian Jewish story of hope, truth, and perseverance. We have a deep love and appreciation for this story, and we are excited to bring it to light.
BEHIND THE SCENES
