A CLOWN | A LIFE

Back To Africa(en)

An Apology to Elephants(en)

Elephants are among the most majestic and intelligent creatures on Earth--but for hundreds of years, they have suffered at the hands of humans. Narrated by Lily Tomlin, this documentary short traces our long history with elephants and explores the many problems that arise when they are brought to live in captivity in zoos and circuses.

Clowns(en)

Daisy Asquith investigates the mysterious world of children's entertainers.

Grazing the Sky(es)

Grazing the Sky is a compelling look at the lives of trapeze artists and other circus performers. The film was shot for over two years covering 11 countries, including the Americas, Europe and the Near East. It follows the nomadic lives of circus performers. The audience follows 10 protagonists as they try to reach perfection and meet their lofty goals. The documentary sheds light on the contemporary circus world, and focuses on performers who devote themselves to the greatest show on earth.

Cirque du Soleil: Quidam(en)

A young girl has already seen everything there is to see and her world has lost all meaning. Her anger shatters her world and she finds herself in the universe of QUIDAM, where she is joined by a playful companion, as well as another mysterious character who attempts to seduce her with the marvelous, the unsettling and the terrifying.

Cirque du Soleil: Alegria(en)

Alegría is a mood, a state of mind. The themes of the show, whose name means "jubilation" in Spanish, are many. Power and the handing down of power over time, the evolution from ancient monarchies to modern democracies, old age, youth - it is against this backdrop that the characters of Alegría play out their lives. Kings' fools, minstrels, beggars, old aristocrats and children make up its universe, along with the clowns, who alone are able to resist the passing of time and the social transformations that accompany it.

Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco(en)

From the Italian 'saltare in banco' – which literally means 'to jump on a bench' – Saltimbanco explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms. Between whirlwind and lull, prowess and poetry, it takes spectators on an allegorical and acrobatic journey into the heart and soul of the modern city.

Cirque du Soleil: Varekai(en)

Icarus is the main character of Varekai, who falls to the ground, breaking his legs as he does. He is suddenly in a strange, new world full of creatures he has never seen before. Parachuted into the shadows of a magical forest, a kaleidoscopic world populated by fantastical creatures, this young man sets off on an adventure both absurd and extraordinary.

Circus Boy(en)

Reconciliation becomes possible between a gay circus trainer and his mom when he and his husband adopt a student.

Mister Biscuit(en)

Noel Mason's vaudevillian skills are appreciated by his younger audience, but he is not making enough money at the children's shows to pay his costs, his old car does not go very well, and he is dyslexic and unable to understand the contracts employers give him. The situation starts to look more hopeful when Noel answers a newspaper advertisement to join an entertainment agency.

Fast, Cheap & Out of Control(en)

Errol Morris’s Fast, Cheap & Out of Control interweaves the stories of four men, each driven to create eccentric worlds from their unique obsessions, all of which involve animals. There’s a lion tamer who shares his theories on the mental processes of wild animals; a topiary gardener who has devoted a lifetime to shaping bears and giraffes out of hedges and trees; a man fascinated with hairless mole rats; and an MIT scientist who has designed complex, autonomous robots that can crawl like bugs.

Calder's 1927 Great Circus(fr)

Alexander Calder created and performed one of the most important and beloved works, his miniature circus (1926-1931). More than twenty years later Jean Painleve made Le Grande Cirque Calder 1927, begun in 1953 and completed in 1955.

Le Cri du Caméléon(fr)

Circus Krone - Manege mit Geschichte(de)

Circus Kid(en)

The Pickle Family Circus was founded by Lorenzo Pisoni's parents in 1974. The film documents the spirit, the lunacy, the daring, the danger and the dynamics of growing up in a circus family.

A Farra do Circo(pt)

This documentary highlights the evolution of Brazil's Circo Voador venue from homespun artists' performance space to national cultural institution.

It Takes a Circus(en)

Eighteen-year-old Aaliyah flies on aerial silks. Her 16-year-old cousin Bre twirls on hoops. They dream of escaping the violence that marred their young lives. Their possible ticket out is the after-school program Trenton Circus Squad. Now that Covid-19 has changed everything, will the circus and the girls’ dreams survive?

Tricicle: un último gesto(es)

Presenter and comedian Andreu Buenafuente interviews Joan Gràcia, Paco Mir and Carles Sans moments after the conclusion of their last performance at the Liceu Theater in Barcelona, the culmination of their forty-three-year career on stages all over the world as Tricicle, a brilliant, ineffable, unforgettable, irreplaceable comedy trio.

Savages: The Story of Human Zoos(fr)

For more than a century the great colonial powers put human beings, taken by force from their native lands, on show as entertainment, just like animals in zoos; a shameful, outrageous and savage treatment of people who were considered subhuman.

The Circus(en)

Drawing upon a vast and richly visual archive and featuring a host of performers, historians and aficionados, this four-hour mini-series follows the rise and fall of the gigantic, traveling tented railroad circus and brings to life an era when Circus Day would shut down a town and its stars were among the most famous people in the country.

Hello(en)

The film tells the story of three best friends named Ako, Aki and Awang, who are well-known in their village for their mischievous and humourous pranks. The trio work for Pak Man. One day, they are assigned to pick up his daughter Misha, who has just returned from overseas and dreams of becoming a doctor. The trio have been in love with her for a long time but she does not pay them any heed. When Misha is robbed by a snatch thief one day, she is rescued by a doctor named Shafiq. Her face reminds the doctor of his late wife, and he begins to pursue her, which annoys the trio.

Lisbela and the Prisoner(pt)

Lisbela is a young woman who loves going to the movies. Leléu is a con man, going from town to town selling all sort of things and performing as master of ceremonies for some cheesy numbers, such as the woman who gets transformed into a gorilla. He gets involved with Linaura, a sexy and beautiful woman who happens to be the wife of the most frightening hitman of the place. The hitman finds out his wife's affair and goes after Leléu, who has to leave in a hurry. In another town, he meets and falls instantly in love with Lisbela, who is engaged to Douglas, a hillbilly who tries hard to pass for a cosmopolitan Rio de Janeiro dweller.

Gaia(en)

In the depths of an ancient forest, something has been growing. Something older than humanity itself, and perhaps greater too. When a park ranger discovers a man and his son living wild, she stumbles onto a secret that is about to change the world.

Dashing Through the Snow(en)

Stranded at an airport at Christmastime, Ashley Harrison accepts a ride from Dash Sutherland, who has just rented the last car in town. As the pair heads north, their adventures include car trouble, adopting a puppy and being secretly tailed by federal agents, who believe Ashley is up to no good. With a hint of romance gradually filling the air will these two fall in love or will their journey bring about an unexpected road bump to romance?

Christmas Under Wraps(en)

When a driven doctor doesn't get the prestigious position she planned for, she unexpectedly finds herself moving to a remote Alaskan town. While she meets the locals and even starts a new romance, she has to learn to let the life she planned for give way to a love she never could have imagined, and finds this festive small town is hiding one big holiday secret.

Barbie Mariposa(en)

Elina, heroine of the Fairytopia films tells her friend Bibble the story of Flutterfield, a faraway kingdom populated by fairies with butterfly wings. Henna, the evil butterfly fairy has poisoned the queen of Flutterfield in an attempt to take over the kingdom.

Hello(en)

An emotionally unavailable flight attendant meets a potential love interest and later finds out that her "perfect guy" has ulterior motives. As the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve, she must fight to keep her murdered ex-boyfriend's secrets or find herself dead.

Rang De Basanti(hi)

After a group of friends graduate from Delhi University, they listlessly haunt their old campus, until a British filmmaker casts them in a film she's making about freedom fighters under British rule. Although the group is largely apolitical, the tragic death of a friend owing to local government corruption awakens their patriotism. Inspired by the freedom fighters they represent in the film, the friends collectively decide to avenge the killing.

Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire(en)

The Yowie Yahoo starts kidnapping musicians at a concert attended by Scooby and the gang in Vampire Rock, Australia.

Infernal Affairs III(cn)

While Yeung Kam Wing is trying to remove all connections between the mob and him, his actions are being carefully observed by Lau Kin Ming, who bears a personal grudge against him.

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2(en)

Surf's up for Barbie as she returns as Merliah, the fun and fashionable surfing champion who's also a magical mermaid princess! In this exciting sea-quel, Merliah makes a splash when she heads to Australia for the ultimate surfing competition. When the evil mermaid Eris escapes from her whirlpool with plans to take over the throne of Oceana, Merliah and her sea friends dive in to stop her. It's a fresh new adventure where Merliah learns that anything is possible and she really can have the best of both worlds!

Q(en)

New York police are bemused by reports of a giant flying lizard that has been spotted around the rooftops of New York, until the lizard starts to eat people. An out-of-work ex-con is the only person who knows the location of the monster's nest and is determined to turn the knowledge to his advantage, but will his gamble pay off or will he end up as lizard food?

Hellraiser: Deader(en)

When a tough-as-nails reporter is lead to a mysterious cult and the evil Pinhead, any moment could be her last.

Sunday in August(de)

Life in Loops (A Megacities RMX)(en)

Timo Novotny labels his new project an experimental music documentary film, in a remix of the celebrated film Megacities (1997), a visually refined essay on the hidden faces of several world "megacities" by leading Austrian documentarist Michael Glawogger. Novotny complements 30 % of material taken straight from the film (and re-edited) with 70 % as yet unseen footage in which he blends original shots unused by Glawogger with his own sequences (shot by Megacities cameraman Wolfgang Thaler) from Tokyo. Alongside the Japanese metropolis, Life in Loops takes us right into the atmosphere of Mexico City, New York, Moscow and Bombay. This electrifying combination of fascinating film images and an equally compelling soundtrack from Sofa Surfers sets us off on a stunning audiovisual adventure across the continents. The film also makes an original contribution to the discussion on new trends in documentary filmmaking. Written by KARLOVY VARY IFF 2006

Big Business(en)

In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths.

Rio Lobo(en)

After the Civil War, a former Union colonel searches for the two traitors whose perfidy led to the loss of a close friend.

RoboCop(en)

In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company's nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.

The Son's Room(it)

A psychoanalyst and his family go through profound emotional trauma when their son dies in a scuba diving accident.

The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses(en)

Littlefoot and his friends return in another adventure. But this time, they aren't the smallest dinosaurs in the valley anymore.