Hot Docs 2016 Women Directors: Meet Viveka Melki— “After Circus”
Viveka Melki is a storyteller working primarily in film. Her projects shed light on social issues that are often overlooked and focus on the resilience and hope of individuals and communities affected. Born in The Gambia, West Africa, Melki co-founded Tortuga Films in Rimouski, Quebec in 2006, but today is a director and screenwriter full-time. In 2010, Melki directed her first short film “The Time It Takes” which was nominated in competition at the Saguenay International Short Film Festival as well as other international film festivals. In 2012 Melki wrote a 7-act circus show called “Qualia: An Ode to Elsie Reford.” (Press materials)
“After Circus” will premiere at the 2016 Hot Docs Film Festival on April 29.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
VM: Sarasota, Florida is home to one of the oldest circus communities in the U.S. There, people never retire from their passion, it’s in their blood. They are independent, co-dependent, interwoven — together, they make up the world of circus and have for generations. But after they have given you a lifetime of memories, what happens to them when the spotlight goes out?
This is a film about being a performer — and in my film, most of those performers are women — who are in the spotlight, and about being resilient in a world where the Big Top on the horizon may soon, if we are not careful, be a thing that survives only in pictures.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
VM: I wrote a circus show called “Qualia” in 2012 which was performed with the circus troupe “Les 7 doigts de la main” from Montreal. The 35-year-old artistic director, Samuel Tétreault, was telling me that most careers in the circus were over by 35 years of age.
That night, when the troupe performed, I knew that the juggler was injured, but still performing — I knew the solo trapeze girl was freezing up there on her swing but still doing her routine. The audience, unaware as we all are, walked away saying they would never forget the performance and I wondered, “Who remembers them after the spotlight ends?” “After Circus” was born.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
VM: I want the audience to feel like I opened the door into the circus world, just a crack, that they peeked inside, and understood something a little better. Most of all, I hope I captured the essence of who the circus performers are out of the spotlight, without their make-up and costumes.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
VM: The 65-year-old parrot who belonged to one of the performers and would not stop talking during the interviews! Actually, winning the trust of the community was the major challenge. Circus folks have been “burned” by a view of their world as “seedy” or freakish, so initially they wouldn’t let me close. Finally, the “elders” of the community, like Norma Fox, gave us their blessing and it was a go — and once they realized I was actually making the film I said I was making.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
VM: I am lucky to be a Canadian filmmaker and I have a great producer. Tortuga Films is in Quebec, Canada, so it was made with the support of the CBC Documentary Channel, and a French channel called Canal D (owned by Bell Media). We also have the Canadian Media Fund, Telefilm Canada, and the SODEC (the Quebec funding agency) involved.
And with all that, I still had crew who worked for less, for longer, and when there was no more budget. I had a producer who was in the editing suite subtitling the film at midnight. There is no easy story when you make a feature-length film. But you are driven to complete it, and to make it to the best of your ability.
W&H: What’s the biggest misconception about you and your work?
VM: That it’s work. It’s an obsession. If I don’t do this, I would still be shooting footage in my head. It took me a long time to be a filmmaker. It just wasn’t a choice where I am from — The Gambia, in Africa — and so now every single day that I do it, I am honored by that privilege.
For me, a finished film is like my heart walking outside my body, forever. I have to accept that I tried, and that I may never be fully satisfied. And move and on to the next project and continue to try and do.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
VM: I ask for advice all the time — from mentors, consultants, and my crew, [but] here is the key: I do exactly what I think is best. And the people from whom I ask advice support that I have a vision, and that I know where I am heading.
I think the most important thing is to appreciate the time they took to give you that advice. I would say best advice I’ve been given is to watch good films. The worst? I don’t remember.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
VM: Listen to your instinct and defy any landscape that says that that is not a valid measuring stick. Use your voice. Remember [the words of writer Virginia Woolf] “as a woman I have no country” — so be brave. Tell your story, and others will have the courage to share theirs.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
VM: Just one? Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding.” The film deals with issues — like child abuse — that are prevalent in every culture, while capturing the exquisite light, sound, and passion of one culture in particular.
