Viki Tóth from Medgyesegyháza is 14 years old and does autocross racing as a hobby. Katalin and Orsolya accompany her to Kecel, a sleepy town in Central Hungary, where amateur races are organised every two weeks.

Tünde, Viki’s mother talks about how it all started: “I was sitting in the bathtub and Viki came in, telling me that she wants to do autocross racing. We had just been to a race together, some friends had invited us. I jumped out of the tub immediately: ‘No, you won’t!’ As her mother, I was terrified of the idea. I needed six months to get used to it. I felt as any parent would, fearing for their child—those people drive like crazy.”

At the race we join Tünde on the spectators’ tribune. She is very excited, it is Viki’s run. She murmurs a short prayer and hugs Réka, her younger daughter close. She cheers Viki on, waving to her in the curve to speed up and running to the other side of the tribune to catch sight of her as she finishes each lap. One race is particularly exhilarating for all of us, as Viki holds her own, tied for a long time with one of the more experienced young racers.

We negotiate with the market authorities in Szeged to allow us to use Viki’s race car on their premises, so that it can make a spectacular appearance during the performance.

All video stills from the film Dinnyeköztársaság (Watermelon Republic), 2021, 40:49 min.