Who we are

56Films is a production company specializing in documentary films as well as television production. Founded by journalist-documentary filmmaker Réka Pigniczky and corporate finance consultant Barnabas Gero in 2005, 56Films strives to tell compelling stories from the personal point of view.

We believe that fiction is entertaining, but often real life provides stories that are more dramatic – precisely because they are real. Films shouldn't be boring just because they are non-fiction!

Why 56Films? If you read the synopsis of our first film, Journey Home, it will be clear in no time.

Réka Pigniczky, Director    reka@56films.com

Réka Pigniczky is a television journalist, producer and documentary filmmaker who has worked for the Associated Press Television News for over 10 years, both in New York and Budapest, Hungary. Her first feature-length documentary, Journey Home: a story from the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, was completed at the end of 2006. It won awards in Hungary and was invited to screen at a number of international film festivals. Réka has an MA in journalism and international relations from Columbia University in New York, and she also has an MA in political science from the Central European University in Budapest. She has a BA in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. Réka was born, raised and educated in the U.S. by Hungarian refugee parents, and she currently lives in Hungary with her husband and three children. Before she started working as a journalist in New York, she spent a number of years working as a political consultant and organizer for women’s NGO’s in Hungary.

Barnabás Gerő,  Corporate Finance Consultant, Producer   barnabas@56films.com

After working for over eight years in corporate finance – first in New York and currently in Budapest, Barnabás is now a freelance consultant in that same sector. He is also the managing director of 56Films, responsible for the overall management of the company and specifically for fundraising, financing, and selling the company’s output. He was co-producer on Journey Home and Kazár, responsible for administering the grants from various sources as well as the sale of the film to broadcasters.

Other members of the ‘creative team’ who have worked on our various projects: 

Mátyás Vándor, Production Co-ordinator, Hungary  mvandor@4cut.hu 

Eszti Pigniczky, Ethnographer, Community Organizer, Creative consultant eszti@56films.com

Lászlo Hargittai, H.S.E.: Editor pamacs@4cut.hu, www.4cut.hu

Gergő Kiss: Director of Photographykerget@gmail.com

Pierre-Olivier Francois: Journalist and Documentary filmmaker (Story Editor)pierrof@hotmail.com

Zsuzsanna Gellér-Varga: Documentary filmmaker (Story Editor) www.zsurlofilm.com

Endre Szentkirályi: Educator, Script consultant, Line-Producer (US) endreszti@gmail.com