SLIFF 2010 Review: CIRCUS KIDS

It’s rare when a film makes an unexpected turn a few minutes into viewing and sends you down another path. That’s the case of CIRCUS KIDS the new documentary from director Alexandra Lipsitz. The film begins as a profile of the St. Louis Arches, a group of young carnival performers based in the gateway city, who are a fixture of Circus Flora and St. Louis’s City Museum. We meet the group’s founder Jessica Hentoff, her own kids that are part of the troupe, and the the rest of Arches. Many of the kids come from tough, neighborhoods and relate that the Arches saved them from a life on the street. Okay,I see where this is headed. Or so I thought.

Turns out they’re headed to the Middle East. Israel to be exact. The Arches have been invited to tour there with the Gaililee Circus, a group of Jewish and Arab kids. After the Arches raise the travel funds, they arrive in Israel and meet the Gaililee kids. Their first meeting is awkward, but soon the coaches are helping the kids work together as they combine their talents. Now the Arches aren’t little angels. They tease, complain, and at one point they horrify the native kids when they hurl nasty racial epitaphs at each other at the pool. Things cool down soon enough and the kids begin to bond after the Arches stay with the families of the Gaililees. It’s great to see them observing and learning about new customs and cultures. After a couple of rough first shows, they take their act on the road, traveling to several cities and finally ending up at Jerusalem.

So what started as a profile of young midwest American circus performers turns into a great internatinal road trip adventure. Lipsitz gives equal time to the Arches and the Gaililee kids as they overcome their language and cultural barriers and learn that they’ve got many common hopes and dreams. CIRCUS KIDS presents an optimistic look at how we can work together and one day live together.

CIRCUS KIDS will play during the 19th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival on Sunday, November 21st at 1:30 pm at the Hi-Pointe Theatre.