Angelmakers
Encyclopedia
The Angelmakers is a 2005 documentary
, the debut film of filmmaker Astrid Bussink
, which provides insight into the epidemic of arsenic
murders by women, known as The Angel Makers of Nagyrév, which brought worldwide attention to the area in 1929. The documentary won the First Appearance competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, as well as several other awards.
The film is shot on location in the rural Hungarian
village of Nagyrév
, alternating between portraits of the surrounding landscape and first-hand narrations by the elderly inhabitants.
Some women poisoned unwanted husbands based on their oppression, drunkenness or laziness, some because the wives had taken lovers, some because the husbands had returned home disabled from World War I
. Unwanted babies were also poisoned.
A web of stories unfolds through the characters' memories which recapture old but ever-lasting tales of life, death and the struggle between the sexes. One of them is the midwife's story as well as one of the narrators' revelation that the 'flypaper' murders were a widespread practice not only in the particular area but on a national level. The film tries to give some insight in the domestic battles that the women of the village have to fight.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, the debut film of filmmaker Astrid Bussink
Astrid Bussink
Astrid Bussink is a Dutch filmmaker. Her debut film is the documentary Angelmakers.She studied fine art at the Academy of fine Arts, AKI, Enschede in the Netherlands and her Master in film at the Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland.During this Master she shot her award winning documentary 'The...
, which provides insight into the epidemic of arsenic
Arsenic
Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As, atomic number 33 and relative atomic mass 74.92. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in conjunction with sulfur and metals, and also as a pure elemental crystal. It was first documented by Albertus Magnus in 1250.Arsenic is a metalloid...
murders by women, known as The Angel Makers of Nagyrév, which brought worldwide attention to the area in 1929. The documentary won the First Appearance competition at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, as well as several other awards.
The film is shot on location in the rural Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
village of Nagyrév
Nagyrév
Nagyrév is a village in Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok in central Hungary.Between 1914 and 1929, a large group of female villagers calling themselves "The Angel Makers of Nagyrév" systematically poisoned to death an estimated 300 people in Nagyrev....
, alternating between portraits of the surrounding landscape and first-hand narrations by the elderly inhabitants.
Some women poisoned unwanted husbands based on their oppression, drunkenness or laziness, some because the wives had taken lovers, some because the husbands had returned home disabled from World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Unwanted babies were also poisoned.
A web of stories unfolds through the characters' memories which recapture old but ever-lasting tales of life, death and the struggle between the sexes. One of them is the midwife's story as well as one of the narrators' revelation that the 'flypaper' murders were a widespread practice not only in the particular area but on a national level. The film tries to give some insight in the domestic battles that the women of the village have to fight.
External links
- Film web site
- Article on the murders
- Another article on the murders (in Hungarian)
- TWO NAGYREV BABIES POISONED BY ARSENIC; Exhumation Gives New Turn to Series of Murders in Hungarian District The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 1929-09-13 - Hungary Opens Grim Trials of Fifty Women For Poisoning Husbands and Other Relatives The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 1929-12-14 - MURDER BY WHOLESALE: A TALE FROM HUNGARY; HUNGARY'S BORGIAS AT THE BARThe New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, 1930-03-16