The Israel Film Fund Collection

Circus Palestina

88 Minutes, 1998
Genre:
Feature
  • Rate
Directed by: Eyal Halfon
Production:Marek Rozenbaum, Chaim Sharir, Uri Sabag, Anat Bikel
Production Company:TransFax Film Productions
Photographer: Valentin Belanogov
Original Music: Shlomo Grunich
Narrator: Era Lapid
Language: Hebrew
| Subtitles not available

Once upon a time – and this literally did happen – an Eastern European travelling circus arrived in the Holy Land where seemingly every mishap and woe conceivable ended up landing at its rickety old big top: debts were mounting, animals were taken ill, clowns had escaped, and the circus owners struggled to find an audience, or even a location where they could pitch their big top. Ibrahim Dayan, a controversial Palestinian entrepreneur proposes they move the steadily-declining business to an altogether different location where no one has even heard of, let alone seen a circus – a small, dilapidated village in the West Bank that is notorious for being the number one go-to place for stolen car parts. However, this ambitious plan doesn’t even make it to the debut show: Schwick the lion – who is the face of the circus and its star attraction, escapes just as he is about to take to the stage. Those who know a thing or two about lions, claim that he took off to act out some sexual urges; the ones who love him realise that he’d escaped to have a taste of freedom. Whatever the reason, as if the area weren’t already rife with problems, it now also has a vicious predator on the loose.

You may also be interested in ...

Subscribe to our mailing list and stay up to date
הירשמו לרשימת התפוצה שלנו והישארו מעודכנים

This will close in 0 seconds