The Filmoteca proposes a fascinating journey through the world of the circus via cinema. The initial date of this series of screenings, July 2, is part of the Grec 2025 Festival de Barcelona calendar, which has turned it into a blend of live arts and cinematic languages. The session includes both a performance by the Eunoia Kolektiva company, which is presenting the show Tenet (Mercat de les Flors; July 11 and 12) at this year's Grec, and a screening of short films by Segundo de Chomón.

From July to September, the Filmoteca shows you a universe of impossible balancing, magic, humour, and risk that has fascinated filmmakers from all backgrounds, eras and styles. Drawing on titles from our own collection, the series of films offers a rich and varied programme for both adults and children, exploring a wide range of perspectives and approaches, from the most classic fiction films to the most experimental documentaries. This deliberately eclectic journey highlights the circus’s ability to evoke powerful imagery and intense emotions, inviting us to rediscover it as a communal space for creativity, enjoyment, and shared memory. 

The programme includes the following titles:

Altas variedades [The Big Show in English] (Rovira Beleta, 1960), Cotillion (Joseph Cornell, 1938), Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos (Alexander Kluge, 1968), Freaks (Tod Browning, 1932), Ki ri ki, acrobates japonais (Segundo de Chomón, 1907), Kings of the Sky (Deborah Stratman, 2004), La pivellina (Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, 2010), La Strada (Fellini, 1954), Lola Montes (Max Ophuls, 1955), No Elephant in the Room (Clara Kleininger, 2022), Notes on the Circus (Jonas Mekas, 1966), Parade (Jacques Tati, 1974), Rabbit’s Moon (Kenneth Anger, 1972), The Circus (Charlie Chaplin, 1928), The Greatest Show on Earth (Cecil B. DeMille, 1952) and Timoteo’s Fabulous Ragged Circus (Lorena Alejandra Giachino Torréns, 2013).