Every kid has a right to be provided with the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter, as well as emotional and financial support. If adults aren’t able to give the kids these things now, they might pay more later. They have the power to shape their kids’ childhood. KIX somehow reminded me of the film Fairy Garden (2023) where 19-year-old transgender girl Fanni gets kicked out of her home and finds a place of safety and friendship with a 60-year-old homeless man. Like Fanni, Sanyi finds his home on the streets with the directors, Dávid Mikulán and Bálint Révész, with their cameras and skateboards. If he had had air to breathe at home, would things have been different?
After going through his growing-up process, the final scene almost brought me to tears because that small boy wants the directors to stay with him and play with him more. The project that started as Mikulán’s art school graduation film of his friendship with Sanyi, ends up as documentation of the harsh reality and critique of their shared society. Ever since the filmmakers entered Sanyi’s home, we see the reality and living conditions of Sanyi and his family. Their curiosity as filmmakers offers us a glimpse of real-life conditions we don’t necessarily share, but which come to feel very close to us. During their Masterclass at Verzió, the directors mentioned that their motivations changed several times throughout the shooting, but in the end, they wanted to help Sanyi and his family.
Mikulán asks a random homeless guy at the beginning of the film, “Fate or will?”. He replies: fate. But how was it for Sanyi? Was that ending “his fate”?
Solongo Soninbayar
