Réka Pigniczky
ORBÁN AND ME
As Hungary approaches a historic political turning point, filmmaker Réka Pigniczky pursues an elusive interview with Viktor Orbán while navigating deep political divisions within her own family, which forces her to confront whether her country has truly learned how to live with democracy.
SYNOPSIS
Orbán and Me is an intimate political documentary set against Hungary’s pivotal 2026 elections after more than sixteen years of Viktor Orbán’s rule. Director Réka Pigniczky, a Hungarian-American journalist who once interviewed Orbán, seeks to understand his transformation from democratic reformer to increasingly inaccessible leader. Through her attempts to interview him, and through debates within her own family, the film explores democracy’s fragility, political polarisation, and whether democratic renewal remains possible in Hungary today.
DIRECTOR
Réka Pigniczky
PRODUCERS
Julianna Ugrin, Barnabas Gerő, Hanka Kastelicova (HBO), Eva Rybkova
PRODUCTION COMPANY
56Films
COUNTRY
Hungary
Réka Pigniczky
DIRECTOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Réka Pigniczky is an American-Hungarian filmmaker and a co-founder of 56Films. She was politically active in Hungary in the early 1990s and later worked as a journalist covering Hungary for the Associated Press. Her films explore memory, identity, belonging, and emigration, often through the legacy of the Revolution of 1956. Her award-winning debut documentary, Journey Home, weaves personal history with national reckoning (2006) in a style similar to Orbán and Me. She holds an MA in international relations from Columbia University and is on the board of the Hungarian Documentary Association.
I was born in the United States to a family that fled Hungary after the 1956 Revolution. Moving to Hungary in the early 1990s, I believed I was witnessing the birth of a democratic future. By 2026, that optimism had largely vanished. As another election approached, many felt the country faced not simply a change of government, but another democratic turning point. I found myself asking how the politician who helped dismantle a one-party system came to champion "illiberal democracy."
These questions are deeply personal. My husband, Barnabás, supports Viktor Orbán's vision for Hungary, while I question its democratic backsliding and corruption. Between us is our son, Lukács, forming his own political views. Our family's conversations mirror the divisions shaping the country. Orbán and Me explores not only how one man transformed Hungary, but how Hungary transformed around him—and what democracy means for a nation still grappling with the legacy of 1989.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Julianna Ugrin
PRODUCER’S BIOGRAPHY
Julianna Ugrin is an EFA-nominated producer and founder of Éclipse Film, a company focusing on creative documentaries for the Hungarian and international markets. Films produced by her, such as A Woman Captured, Easy Lessons, and The Next Guardian, were screened and awarded at festivals such as Sundance, IDFA, Locarno, Hot Docs, and Sheffield. In 2019, she was selected for Producers on the Move in Cannes. A EURODOC and EAVE graduate, she is President of the Hungarian Documentary Association, Chair of the Board of DAE, and a member of the European Film Academy. Holy Dilemma is her first film as a producer-director.
PRODUCER’S STATEMENT
Orbán and Me is a timely and deeply human story about democracy, memory, and political identity. Rather than offering easy answers, the film explores how one country’s transformation is experienced through the intimate lens of a family divided by politics. At a moment when democratic institutions are being tested around the world, Hungary serves as both a warning and a mirror. This is a film that invites audiences to move beyond political slogans and engage with the personal costs, contradictions, and consequences of living through profound political change.
Production company profile
56Films was founded in 2005 by documentary filmmaker Réka Pigniczky and producer Barnabás Gerő. Based in Budapest, 56films has produced a number of award-winning feature-length documentaries as well as shorts: Journey Home: a story from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (2006), Kazár: From the Cradle to the Grave (2008), The Life of László Hudec (2010), Inkubátor (2010), and Heritage (2013). 56Films also produced the two-part documentary Kodály on the Cuyahoga (2012–2013) for Duna World Television. Through director Réka Pigniczky, 56Films is also a production partner in the award-winning visual history archive Memory Project, founded in 2015. Through the Memory Project, 56films co-produced the film Cold Warriors (by Réka Pigniczky and Andrea Lauer Rice) in 2017.
56Films provides filmmakers with production support and co-production opportunities. The creative members of the 56Films team also work on other independent films as well as co-productions.
Where are we at?
TOTAL ESTIMATED BUDGET
710.690 €
NEEDED FOR COMPLETION
397.059 €
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