Orphan

Orphan takes place amongst the ruins of the violently suppressed Hungarian Revolution, in which thousands of anguished citizens challenged the USSR-backed dictatorship and were met with Soviet tanks and troops. The resultant violence and high death tolls led to nearly a quarter of a million Hungarians fleeing the country.

Living with his stoic and forbearing mother in Budapest, Andor is desperately searching for his identity. Although eleven years have passed since the liberation of the camps, his father has not returned. The family of two are members of the close-knit Jewish community, which – under the thumb of the Axis-aligned regime that preceded Soviet occupation – suffered at the best of times and at the worst times disappeared. Although settled in their historic family home, they are under close observation by the current regime, which suspects their connection to at-large members of what remains of the underground resistance. Meanwhile, the family receives visits from Berend Mihály, a pompous and brutish man from the nearby countryside, linked to Klára’s mysterious past, who Andor begins to suspect holds the key to the true story of his mother’s survival during World War II. (source: www.tiff.net)

Written by J.C.