Imagine a remote Roma village in Hungary, where 98 percent of the population is unemployed. Drinking water and public lighting were introduced 15 years ago. Now they have a tennis court and a bio-gardening project, funded by EU and national sources. The mayor believes these can bring about much-needed changes but the villagers have their doubts.
Men With Balls, local economy and a tennis court in the middle of nowhere
The day after a tennis court landed within its borders, in the small town of Becens, Hungary, there are more tennis balls than people with a job. The only thing that seems to give life to the slow pace of its streets are not the few jobs offered by the local government, but rather the unstoppable spirit of its eccentric mayor. Next to him is Kari, the tennis coach in charge of teaching to pass the balls over the net to the picturesque inhabitants. They both form a duet of old persevering protagonist.
Hungarian director Kristof Kovacs shows an irreverent kaleidoscopic look on Besens, always having the Tennis court as the center of this microcosm. The film depicts the court´s apparent rivalry with the only local bar and its repercussions in the dynamics of a town at the mercy of the lack of opportunities. The phenomenon becomes a curiosity in national television and a sensation among the inhabitants, who have the challenge of keeping their motivation for a tournament with the club of a neighboring town.
An accelerated and intelligent editing and an eloquent soundtrack compose a hilarious portrait of Becens, a little town in which the sense of belonging and the inertia of the routine seem to be two irreconcilable forces.