Letters to Afar

Letters to Afar: By Péter Forgács, music by the Klezmatics is an immersive video art installation based on home movies made by New York City’s Jewish immigrants who traveled back to visit Poland during the 1920s and 30s. The films document poignant family reunions and everyday life in small towns in the years before the Second World War, capturing a culture on the brink.

The installation was created by Hungarian artist Péter Forgács, under a commission by the Museum of the History of Polish Jews
in Warsaw and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. With a haunting soundtrack by the New York-based band The Klezmatics, these “letters” bring to life a lost world in startling and moving detail.

We are showing a selection of the art installation Letters to Afar. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Péter
Forgács.

Welcome

Éva Kovács, Deputy Director of the VWI

Introduction

Stephen Naron, Director of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Discussion

After the screening there will be a discussion with film director Péter Forgács, Stephen Naron and Noah Shenker (Colgate University).
Péter Forgács, born in 1950 in Budapest, is a filmmaker and visual artist.

Forgács has been internationally renowned for his found-footage films, including the award-winning Private Hungary series. His multimedia installations and films often incorporate found footage, images, narratives, and archival material.

By attending, you consent to the publication of photographs,
video and audio recordings made during the event.