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A portrait of Alexandre Romanès-Bouglione. Heir to one of the great gypsy circus families, the Bougliones, he knew the circus at its zenith. He left it when he was 20, in the 70s, when the entertainment industry had already doomed the poetry of the circus and weakened the bonds of family. After a series of unusual experiences that included the friendship with Jean Genet and chair rebottoming activities, he returned to his origins via the gypsy camp at Nanterre. It was here that the Romanès Circus was born. The film follows Alexandre in his ceaseless activities... During a break, he sits down and reminisces. He talks about the extraordinary atmosphere of the circus at his birth, the Bouglione clan, his past experience as an animal tamer, which is also evoked in archive footage that captures the grandeur and charm of the circus back then. These images and words reveal the essence and the daily lot of a life in the circus. Writers discuss the originality and intensity of this astonishing man's life; a man who knows how to use the sledgehammer and the pen, who is always where you least expect him, whose favorite words are "living" and "poetic", and who, wherever he is, has a talent for recreating his space.

France - 2000 - 56 mn - Betacam Digital - Colour

Réalisation Françoise Lebrun, Stéphane Ginet Scénario Françoise Lebrun, Stéphane Ginet Entretien Pierre-André Boutang Image Stéphane Ginet, Alain Vernois Son Emmanuel Soland Montage Yann Coquart

Production et Ventes Cailloux & Cie, 11 bis rue Lemercier, 75017 Paris, France Tél : +33 (0)1 4522 4936 Fax : +33 (0)1 4293 8066 E-mail : cailloux2@wanadoo.fr Co-Production ARTE France