‘Six Weeks’ helmer Noémi Veronika Szakonyi Talks Fascination With Adoption, New Project ‘Bite Into the Soul’ (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Marta Balaga Following the world premiere of “Six Weeks” at Sarajevo Film Festival, about a teenage mother who decides to give her child up for adoption, but still has some time to change her mind, director Noémi Veronika Szakonyi will continue to explore the subject in “Little Ones.” In the documentary, which she will produce, the focus will shift to the complicated workings of international adoption.“We have been working on it for eight years now; we will shoot for four more,” she says.

Her husband and frequent collaborator Máté Vincze will direct.“I have a subconscious connection to this topic, which I have realized only later.

I have been shooting another documentary about my own family, about my mother giving up her child. My brother. I am just interested in that question: how can you give up a child and survive?” The Hungarian filmmaker already has a slew of new projects, including another documentary “Afterglow,” and “Bite Into the Soul,” set in New York, where she used to study and live with her husband, who will co-direct.“It’s inspired by true events and characters, and it’s based on our research on the life and struggles of the Hungarian illegal immigrant community in Brooklyn,” she reveals to Variety, adding she will focus on an older age group this time.“Our protagonist is Erzsébet, a 59-year-old illegal immigrant from the Hungarian countryside.

She takes care of a rabbi’s elderly wife in Williamsburg.”Szakonyi will also produce “Gross National Happiness,” and “Successful Man,” currently in post-production.In “Six Weeks,” produced by Budapest-based company Sparks, she wanted to show that sometimes, waiting is the hardest part.