Project Description: The Storyteller is a feature-length documentary that expands on Katherine Fennelly's book, Family Declassified: Uncovering My Grandfather's Journey from Spy to Children's Book Author. (Sunbury Press, 2023).
 

The film employs archival materials, interviews with historians and researchers, and Cyanotype animation to explore the life of Francis Kalnay in the context of significant world events in the 20th century.  Kalnay was an immigrant to the US from the war-torn Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1919 who became a high-level spy for the Allies in WWII, a designer of houses in Mexico, a gourmand who published articles about cooking, and an award-winning children’s book author.  He learned to design houses after spending time in Argentina with two older brothers (Andrés and Jorge Kalnay) who were renowned architects there.

 

Principal themes of the film are identity, hidden Jewish ancestry, the Hungarian Holocaust, and the immigrant experience in Europe, South America and the United States. 

 



Director/Producer:  Dylan Hirsh




Consultants:  Professors Katherine Fennelly and Wendy Brown, and Architect Esteban Kalnay




Cinematographer: Jason F. Vasquez




Animator: Kelly Schiesswohl


 

Advisors: David Briggs Severance (s1), Teeth (2007), Babygirl (2024), Christina Freeman Archival Expert, Social Practice CUNY Fellow, UltraViolet Archive (2018-2024)



 

Recorded on-location video in key locations: Valle de Bravo Mexico, Budapest, Hungary and Brooklyn, New York

 

 

Documentary Structure

Opening Scene: The film opens with a scene in which the books "Family Declassified" and "Chucaro" are displayed on a table with other artifacts. As the calendar pages count down to 1944, we arrive at the fascist Arrow Cross headquarters in Budapest. The year then flashes back to 1919, where we examine Kalnay’s early years in the US after arriving on a Hungarian merchant marine vessel.

 

Animated Scene: A vintage cartoon depicts Francis Kalnay’s brothers, György and András attempting to enter the United States in 1920. An animated clip shows their ship being batted down to Argentina by Uncle Sam.

 

OSS Operative in Action: Archival footage and narration by Katherine Fennelly and other academics detail Ferko's rise within the Office of Strategic Services and his activities during WWII.




Post-War Reinvention: This segment includes visuals from Mexico and comments on Ferko's architectural influence on the town of Valle de Bravo.

 

Children’s Book Author: Kalnay’s granddaughter, political theorist Wendy Brown of the Center for Advanced Study at Princeton University, analyzes the themes of Kalnay’s childrens’ books and discusses his later years in California.





Concealing His Past: Fennelly discusses why individuals like Kalnay may have chosen to hide  or distort their pasts. The segment also touches on McCarthyism and the ways in which immigrants can be exploited and then marginalized.



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Archival and Genealogical Research: In this section Fennelly discusses how she undertook research for the book with an emphasis on modern tools and resources.



 

Legacy and Remembrance: The concluding section explores how aspects of Kalnay’s story can illustrate the broader immigrant experience. Ferko was a complex individual who lived many different lives. He was a true Renaissance man and war hero, but also a flawed husband and father.