Why…

I Made This Film…

For 20 years I have tried to use film as a tool to stimulate communication between people from different countries, cultures and races. Living in Amsterdam, Holland, I have worked as a sociologist with people from the former Dutch colony Suriname, in South America. I experienced the enormous problems these people encountered by trying to find their place in the Dutch society. Most of these problems stemmed from lack of knowledge about the values of the other culture. As an aspiring filmmaker I got the idea to use visuals to inform both about the values they share.

Circus Flora is for me a micro cosmos of the world we live in. How do these performers from different cultures try to work and live together?

 

During my stay with the circus on Nantucket two my focus was on the adults. While talking to the parents about their children my curiosity shifted to the little ones. What does the circus mean to them? What do they learn from children of other cultures, races while working and playing together?