Strudel Sisters

Short documentary in Hungarian with English subtitles, shot in Tura, Hungary. This film is in the Official Selection for Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and Sydney Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary at St Kilda Film Festival.

Peter, as a native Hungarian now living in Australia, has always had an insatiable appetite for strudel pastry. As a documentary filmmaker, he has long considered the idea of capturing the story of traditional strudel-making, a delicate art now in decline.

Jaina’s partner also happens to be of Hungarian descent, so he is familiar with Magyar culture and customs. Given this connection, Strudel Sisters seemed to be the ideal opportunity for us to collaborate. In September 2015 we travelled to Tura, a village about an hour’s drive from Budapest, to make the film together.

Meeting Ilona and Erzsébet, the ‘Strudel Sisters’, for the first time was a joyful experience – and not just because they offered us three kinds of strudel! Their warmth, kindness and genuine affection for each other were just as irresistible as the delicious pastry. Since we knew that the sisters were eager to pass on their knowledge of strudel- making to future generations, we felt so privileged to be the ones documenting this important tradition.

The other thing that immediately struck us was the sisters’ devotion to their mother, who taught them to make strudel in their early years. The sadness of her passing when the sisters were only teenagers endures to this day. It is the multi-layering of emotion that makes this story so remarkable – while on the surface it appears to be about the delight and magic of strudel-making, it is in fact a tragic family history about the oppression suffered under the communist regime.

Ilona and Erzsébet are sure to capture your hearts, just as they did ours. For us, the emotional impact of Strudel Sisters is best conveyed by the sisters’ beautiful singing, which connects them to the past and signifies their longing for their beloved mother, the one who taught them how to love, how to live and how to make strudel.