''The Angelmakers'' is a 2005

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, the debut film of filmmaker Astrid Bussink, which provides insight into the epidemic of

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...

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 The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Description IDFA is an independent, international meeting place for audiences ...

, 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 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 two 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.

References

External links

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Documentary web site
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Another article on the murders
(in Hungarian) * * * 2005 films Dutch documentary films 2000s Dutch-language films Documentary films about crime Documentary films about Hungary 2005 documentary films 2005 directorial debut films {{2000s-Netherlands-film-stub