High Grass Circus (1976)
- Directed by
- Torben Schioler, Tony Ianzelo
- Genre
- documentary film
- Country
- Canada
- Runtime
- 57 min
- Rating
- 6.5 of 10 from 4 voters
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
This documentary follows the Royal Brothers' traveling circus as it moves across Canada in the 1970s. It shows the daily work and routines of the performers and crew who keep the show going.
observationalintimatenostalgicquietearthygrittyslow-pacedatmosphericunvarnished
What happens
High Grass Circus is a 1976 National Film Board of Canada documentary film co-directed by Tony Ianzelo and Torben Schioler, exploring life in the Royal Brothers' traveling circus. It was shot in the spring and summer of 1975 and part of 1976, and had a budget of $62,008 (equivalent to $327,386 in 2025). It received the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Film of the Festival at the Yorkton Film Festival, the Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board, and it was nominated as Best Documentary Feature at the 50th Academy Awards. Following its Oscar nomination, it was acquired by CBC-TV, which broadcast it on July 12, 1978. It was subsequently sold to television networks in New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and Yugoslavia. A nine-minute cut-down version of the film, entitled Little Big Top, played in Canadian theatres in late 1977, including a 15-week run in Vancouver. In August 1980, PBS acquired the film along with seven other NFB documentaries and broadcast them on 11 of its stations. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
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Running Time (1976)
2 pouces en haut d'la carte (1976)
La Révolution du dansage (1976)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.