How Did I Get Here?
My grandmother documented me with an Olympus camera my whole life and recently gifted me all her photos. Being confronted with these images made me realize that I have been taking our shared history for granted and that I have very few memories of it. My grandma and her next-door neighbor raised me on and off until the age of 6, in Eger, a small Hungarian town, while my parents tried to start a life in the United States.
After being reunited with my parents, I grew distant from these two women, and I never really examined this period of my life. This documentary project is an attempt to reconnect with them as we collectively try to piece together the timeline of my childhood and try to understand the series of decisions that lead me to live separated from the rest of my family.
Dorottya recently graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, in documentary film directing. Her student films have been screened at Zsigmond Vilmos Film Festival (ZSIFF), The National Independent Film Festival (MAFSZ), and Friss Hús International Short Film Festival. Dorottya’s work is on the border between documentary and experimental film, she shoots and often sits in front of the camera herself, often using abstract elements or mixed media images in her work (photography, home video, mobile phone footage), dealing with deeply personal themes.
