CircusTime

CircusTime is a feature lenght documentary directed by René Hazekamp. It premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2014.

Synopsis

First-year students at the school of Circus Arts in Rotterdam (Codarts) learn the hard tricks of juggling or acrobatics from their teachers. Besides their physical abilities, the students are looking for themselves, their inner artist and a style that suits them. Documentary maker René Hazekamp not only shows how the students, but also the teachers and policymakers, struggle with the question of what is expected of a circus artist. CircusTime is named after the week’s last hour of class during which students show each other and their teachers their latest tricks, choreographies and ideas. Hazekamp’s style of filming is reminiscent of documentaries from a bygone era about children undergoing athletic training in the former Eastern Bloc. However, the students’ assertiveness and own vision soon reveals that this is an international school in Western Europe.