Dreams of a young gypsy in Groó’s Vespa
Shooting starts next Tuesday on Vespa, the second feature by Diana Groó, who first came to attention with Miracle in Cracow (2005) and is a graduate of the Simó class at Budapest Film School, which has turned out many of the talented exponents of the Hungarian New Wave (including György Pálfi, Szabolcs Hajdu and Ferenc Török).
The director tries her hand this time at a road movie, which she co-wrote with Iván Szabó. The cast features non-professionals and professionals, including Julia Nyakó (Fresh Air [+see also:
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In the film, 12-year-old gypsy Lali, who lives in extreme poverty with his mother in a rural Romany community, wins a chocolate bar whilst playing cards that contains a prize: a scooter.
In order to collect it, he has to go to Budapest and decides to travel alone, also hoping to catch up with his father, whom he hasn’t seen for years. But the journey isn’t as straightforward as he imagines, from friendly encounters to his confrontation with a Hungarian society that is swift to destroy people’s dreams, particularly those of gypsies.
Groó told Cineuropa that her film would include documentary and fictional elements in a style that she and DoP Sándor Kardos have defined as “magic realism”. She explained: ”The main character was cast from among hundreds of young gypsies, and his life and personality add further colour to the original script. His home and surroundings, as well as the members of the Romany community in Szentes (southern Hungary) will be an integral part of the film, as they are in real life."
Vespa is produced by Dénes Szekeres for Tivoli Film Productions with backing from the Motion Picture Public Foundation of Hungary. The five-week shoot will last until July 19.
The director told Cineuropa: "The €285,000 budget is very modest. It’ll be a real feat if we fully achieve what we dream of doing, but my team is very enthusiastic. We’re going to shoot a first HD version in 16mm, which we’ll then blow up into 35mm" The film is set to be unveiled next February at Hungarian Film Week.
(Translated from French)
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