Everybody loves Circo

My fondest memories as a child were going to the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus at the old Madison Square Garden in New York. When I saw an opportunity to see the film “Circo,” which is about the Ponce’s family “Gran Circo Mexico” at the Los Angeles Film Festival, I entered the big top. Luckily, I had an opportunity to meet Aaron Schock, the director, and we set up a time to chat.

IFQ: So after seeing your film, there are so many aspects in it that were a complete surprise than what I expected. In the beginning, we see everyone setting up the tents and preparing the stage for a circus and   the audience is waiting for the show to begin and then we enter a different aspect. How did this come about?

Aaron Schock: Okay… Well, my original intention was to reverse the direction  in documentaries on Mexico, the border and immigration issues and  go to this place where everyone was fleeing and try to understand why and not make a political film, but instead putting someone in the shoes of someone running a business who hasn’t left but stayed. So  it was to be about farmers, and then the circus  pulled into town one night and I saw  that this was colorful and interesting. I told myself let’s go there, and then I spent some time with these folks and heard their stories and how it was running this circus, which had been around for 100 years . That immediately struck me as a metaphor for the world sector because pretty much families in Mexico have been doing what their families have been doing for many decades and generations, and it has become increasingly difficult and rightly so in the circus business. This opportunity arrived where I could bring people into this world to show them something that they would not know.

IFQ: What amazed me is how they allowed you to get inside their everyday lives and there was no cover-up as to what was going on internally.

AS: I had no idea that I was stepping into a huge marital conflict at the center of the film, but on the other hand these people were making decisions for change and that mirrors the struggle within families everywhere. That echoes and resonates with American audiences, and the question arises of whether they should leave or go or try to make it work.

IFQ: Of course, it is always difficult to pull away from a close family unit and want to do something else and not follow in their footsteps.

AS: This a question that has often come up as a filmmaker documentarian and it has to with trust. Personally, I do not find that hard to do if you are honest with people. I benefited from the fact that these are pretty busy people who are just making their lives work. After a while, they were able to just ignore me, but it also meant a great deal to them that I kept coming back. Especially after the first time, when I wasn’t filming I was just talking to them so when I did come back they saw that I was interested in them and that meant a great deal which  really helped the first shoot . So when I returned and was able to show them images and footage and included them into the process of what I was doing, the intimacy increased and I just became a friend of the family while I was filming and   working alone. So it was just me and them. I ate with them, and lived with them like I was a member of the troupe. I drove trucks and pitched in working, especially when you see children doing it.

IFQ: I know that from my own experience of working and living in Mexico, that is just part of their nature. When they see how you respond in a certain way, they go full out.

AS: They were the nicest people I have ever met. I know that it is really hard for them to see all of this stuff on the screen and all the marital conflicts while they are still being gracious and open and are still appreciative of my involvement in their lives. They realized that I did them justice and didn’t betray them and  that still continues because I wasn’t heavy handed.Tino also feels that in dealing with his father I was being honest.This is all tricky stuff and I have heard that sometimes the documentarian’s relationship has sometimes gone south with his subjects. This was my first feature and the relationship continues in a good way. Well, I never took sides on whose side I was on. Whether it was Tino or his wife or his parents, I understood the logic of the life, and both their logic and arguments were understandable.

For instance, how responsible Tino is to his family and how difficult it would be for him to go outside because he is illiterate and having to go into a work world when here he is the master of his own domain and if he would give it up for who knows what and what his prospects would be and  for the mom and also the impressions of the grandparents and how the  kids needed to be  going to school. So I wanted audiences to go back and forth as I did about these difficult decisions and it is a much more generous stance to present to an audience without tipping it one way or another. You can have your own opinion and trust the audience’s ability to be honest and deal with multiple things at once including their own feelings and be in a much more generous place. I think reality is best when it happens and can be nuanced instead of music coming to swoon the audience. As for seeing the children working, people cannot be appalled as there is no other choice by the parents, and Tino is not a bad man by having his children work, but they are in a situation where there is no other opportunity. We pulled back some punches and let the audience come to their own conclusions.

IFQ: There are decisions that you needed to present the story so that it works. Let’s get into your musical score that just seemed to fit. Were they part of the circus?

AS: Actually, the music is from Calexico, an Indie band known around the world. They had done film scores and had done 6 or 7 sound tracks on Todd Haynes’s film “I’m Not There,” about Bob Dylan. We were using them as temp music when we were editing, and I formed what we call “Temp Love” which is what happens when you cannot imagine using any other music and I was encouraged to call them and see if they would be interested in doing it on our small budget. I sent them a disk with their music on it and they rung us back and said that they would sign on and that was it. We kept the music simple and minimal like  this handmade  world  in the circus world and it was a good fit.

IFQ: So were your producers there every step of the way?

AS: No. I was the producer for the most part, but I would ask for advice and then

they came on board more towards the end with helping with the financing ,festivals and getting the film out there.

IFQ: So what is next for you?

AS: We have been invited to The Morelia International Film Festival in October and we will have an outdoor screening in the plaza and everyone in the film is coming to see it with an audience and they may perform and they are really excited about all of that.

IFQ: Well, as another American who was working for Televisa in Mexico for one year, I really feel that you captured the culture as if you were one of them.

 

AS: Thank you! That was really important for me and I appreciate that.