Silk Road
2023
documentary series
documentary series
For three years, I traveled alone across the world to film small, vanishing circuses. I followed a teenager in Russia caring for an abandoned camel in an empty big top, Syrian refugees in a social circus in Turkey, Indian street performers sleeping under the stars, and a solitary juggler in Brazil convinced that his mission is to bring circus to every village on Earth.
I led this project as creative producer, director, cinematographer, and editor.
The series was released in 2023 on the Premier streaming platform.
I led this project as creative producer, director, cinematographer, and editor.
The series was released in 2023 on the Premier streaming platform.
Brazil
A Brazilian wandering artist travels alone in a bright orange car. Every day he moves from village to village, performing in places where people have never seen a circus before. After the show, he is always welcomed: given food and a place to sleep. But sometimes he no longer has the strength to convince people that his free performance is something they truly need.
Uzbekistan
A strongman from Uzbekistan amazes audiences every day — lifting and tossing heavy weights, dragging a car with his teeth. But in Samarkand, the heat is so intense that while waiting for the show, all he wants to do is sleep, and he dozes off again and again. Each time, he dreams of the Fergana Valley — his homeland, a place he has not seen for so long that only memories of it remain.
Turkey
In the Turkish city of Mardin, Syrian refugees are involved in a social circus. Each of them carries a heavy past, but they are determined to dedicate their lives to saving the childhoods of other children who have lived through war. One day, they travel to the other end of Turkey to give a performance for refugees from Iraq.
India
An Indian family from the “Nat” caste travels across India. They have no choice — their mothers, fathers, grandfathers, and grandmothers were all acrobats, and so they and their children must also remain acrobats for life. Even a one-year-old child in this family is already a kind of performer. What does a routine circus life mean?
Russia
A teenager in southern Russia encounters a camel and a donkey abandoned by their circus owners after the circus shut down due to the coronavirus and the big top was sold off for scrap metal. The 15-year-old boy becomes the only one who cares about the fate of the animals, but he grows so attached to them that their separation becomes a heavy blow for him.
