How did you first get involved with
this project?
I started filming in 2006. They (the
invisible circus) were in a squat around the corner from my house in
the old Audi garage on Cheltenham
Rd. I saw a lot of performance there that got my attention.
These were people that weren’t paralysed by tradition
or worried about getting funded, they were just a group of
people getting on with it and I liked that.
Were you already interested in the
circus or was it the invisible circus that first caught your
attention?
I was interested in performance
from the age of 10 and
studied theatre at uni. I
had ideas but felt a helplessness as I didn’t know how to make them
happen. I felt demoralised by the end of it. I felt that there was a
tradition there that I didn’t fit in with. I love performing but
felt that it was not saleable work, so I learned technical film
making. Now through making this
film I’ve got back into performance.
The eviction
hearing for the Audi garage was on the same day as the big show; Road
to nowhere. That was 29 September 2006, the day I started filming.
It was a high profile project, there
were lots of people in and out making work and coming to see it.
People liked them being there and felt it was better to have the
shows and use the space than just leave another abandoned building.
It was at this time when people from the arts council became
interested. It was a grim autumn and winter of evictions and moving
from place to place before they got a secure place.
How was it working with the people
from the Invisible circus? How did they take to being filmed?
Some people were a little uncomfortable
being filmed, but mostly people were very happy. They felt it showed
support and faith in the ongoing project, especially
during the times when it was just a few people huddled in a terraced
house over winter.
Were there any difficulties you
encountered while filming?
The major hurdles were the time and
effort it took to put it together. I
had 300 hours of tape and it was self funded. Having a
studio here helped enormously, but
the edit took about a year and a half in total.
I took a month and a half out of free
lance work for the biggest chunk of
the edit. I got friends and family to raise 1000 pounds from
amongst 80 people to help get me through that time. Two of my friends
worked for free on the sound and
colour grade for what they thought would be a
few weeks but turned into 6 months! My husband also did masses
of work. It was difficult to hand the work over to people and
stressful getting it all done.
So what would you say the film is
about?
It’s a story of people working
outside the normal way of working, a DIY scene that was coming into
the market, from a squat into a rented space. There were benefits and
draw backs, it was inspiring and I was interested by the transition.
The project was fuelled on inspiration and love which is why I got
involved.
What are you doing with it now? (
this was some time ago now )
Well this weekend
I'm holding an invite-only free screening and knees-up to say thanks
to those who helped me and to the circus. I've just found out the
cinema it was going to be at doesn't exist any more, which was quite
a shock! But true to form the circus has rallied round and we're
building our own cinema. After that I'll start holding screenings
wherever I can- hopefully in lots of once-derelict arts spaces all
over the world.
www.invisiblecircusfilm.com for online viewing, bookings, reviews and DVD's
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