Hungarian Dressmaker

East Coast Premiere

Slovakia's official entry for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film is a powerful period drama delving deeply into maternal instincts and the fierce struggle for survival during World War II. Based on Petr Krištúfek's novella, the film follows Marika, a widowed Hungarian dressmaker living near the Slovak-Hungarian border during the turbulent years of World War II. With her husband missing and her job with a Jewish tailor lost amid the deportation of Jews to German-occupied Poland, Marika is left to manage the family farm on her own. Her world is further upended when she discovers a young Jewish boy hiding in her barn—a discovery that could cost them both their lives. As she risks everything to protect the boy, the film offers a deeply human perspective on the horrors of war, capturing her resilience and the boy's harrowing journey for survival. Through their intertwined stories, the film presents a moving portrayal of courage, compassion, and the enduring impact of war on ordinary lives.