The Euphoria of Being

The Hungarian Éva Fahidi was 18 when she and her family were deported to Auschwitz in 1944. She was separated from her family and learned after the war that all her 49 blood relatives had been murdered, including her parents and sister.

Director and dancer Réka Szabó became fascinated by Fahidi’s life story, documented in her book The Soul of Things. She reached out to the elderly Fahidi to ask if she would like to dance in a piece about her life, together with the young and acclaimed dancer Emese Cuhorka.

Szabó filmed the whole process, from the first meeting between the two main characters, to the development of the piece during exhausting rehearsals, and through to the first performance of Sea Lavender or The Euphoria of Being. The documentary also follows the blossoming of an intimate friendship between the three women. Slowly, Fahidi’s memories come alive. After a long life, she has accepted that she will always carry her trauma with her.