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American Morning

Talk with Director of 'American Rhapsody'

Aired August 09, 2001 - 11:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A few days ago, an "American Rhapsody" won the award for best feature film at the Hollywood Film Festival. Eva Gardos joining us from Los Angeles.

Ms. Gardos, congratulations on that award and congratulations on the film.

EVA GARDOS, DIRECTOR: Thank you. I am thrilled.

KAGAN: I bet you are. I want to know a little bit more about your story. It was 1951. You were just a little baby, and your parent had to flee Hungary. Why was that?

GARDOS: They had to leave, because like many people had to leave their homes even now, they had to leave because of political oppression.

KAGAN: But they had to make a decision that was just heartbreaking. They left you behind as a little baby. Why couldn't they take you with him?

GARDOS: Well, the decision really -- I mean, when you see the movie, you can see that it was actually a mistake that we were separated.

KAGAN: They paid someone to take them across the border, and then I was supposed to follow them the next day, and through a series of very dramatic circumstances, we were separated, and the separations that are being three four days winded being many, many years.

KAGAN: So in the movie, the couple, your parents, end up in California, but in reality, your parents ended up in Montreal, Canada, is that right?

GARDOS: That's right.

KAGAN: And what happened to you with those six years when you were left behind?

GARDOS: I lived with a family out in the countryside, just very much like in the movie, a childless couple. I was -- because the -- I was originally with my grandmother, and then the police were looking for her, and for my parents and they -- my grandmother hid me with a childless couple out in the country. KAGAN: So at age...

GARDOS: She was actually put in jail.

KAGAN: I don't mean to make your story so short, and I know that it makes a wonderful movie, but our time is short here.

At age six when you reunited with your parents in Montreal, what was that transition like? I imagine you were seeing things and experiencing things you never had back in Hungary.

GARDOS: Well, that was certainly true. You know, I knew nothing about Elvis, or television or rock 'n' roll, and that was pretty amazing, and you know, it was a very, very difficult world.

GARDOS: And to fast forward, you find yourself in the film business, meet the right people, find you have a great story. When you went to make the movie, though, it's a story into itself, you did it in 32 days and only for $3.5 million.

KAGAN: I know. It was a small miracle, and I think partly because of the story, that it excited people so much, that I had people of great talent. Actors and crew people that were willing to work on this film, because of the fact that the film is based on something that is substantial, that it's an exciting film. It's a little bit different from your regular summer fare.

KAGAN: The movie opens August 10th.

GARDOS: Good luck with that.

KAGAN: Eva Gardoz, "American Rhapsody," thank you so much. Good to have you with us.

GARDOS: Thanks.

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