Jonas and the Backyard Circus

Thirteen-year-old Jonas’s great passion is the circus in his backyard. Together with his friends, he practices clown acts and acrobatics – he even manages a Michael Jackson impersonation. Jonas’s shows have an enthusiastic audience of local children, and his grandmother encourages him to continue. But his mother has her reservations – after all, wasn’t she the one who gave up her job as a circus artiste to ensure a good future for Jonas? And now, here he is, neglecting his homework! When director Paula Gomes asks what he considers more important, school or circus, Jonas says school, but his eyes tell a different story. Gomes’s calm and affectionate observations highlight how difficult it is for Jonas to integrate his two worlds. This gulf is even apparent in the contrast between the poetic shots of the boy’s leafy neighborhood and the impersonal atmosphere of the school, with all its rules and regulations. Jonas clings to his dream, but reality imposes itself on him more and more. He is concerned about his future as a circus artiste and feels responsible for the film being made about him – a film that turns out to be as much about the bewildering adventure of growing up as it is about a child’s circus.