High Grass Circus is a 1976 National Film Board of Canada documentary film co-directed by Tony Ianzelo and Torben Schioler, exploring life in the Royal Brothers' traveling circus. It was shot in the spring and summer of 1975 and part of 1976, and had a budget of $62,008 (equivalent to $313,230 in 2023).[1]

High Grass Circus
Directed byTony Ianzelo
Torben Schioler
Produced byWilliam Brind
Tony Ianzelo
Colin Low (exec.)
CinematographyTony Ianzelo
Edited byTorben Schioler
Donald Douglas (sound)
Music byDonald Douglas
Production
company
Release date
  • 1976 (1976)
Running time
57 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Budget$62,008

It received the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Film of the Festival at the Yorkton Film Festival,[2] the Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board, and it was nominated as Best Documentary Feature at the 50th Academy Awards.[3][4][5]

Following its Oscar nomination, it was acquired by CBC-TV, which broadcast it on July 12, 1978. It was subsequently sold to television networks in New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and Yugoslavia. A nine-minute cut-down version of the film, entitled Little Big Top, played in Canadian theatres in late 1977, including a 15-week run in Vancouver. In August 1980, PBS acquired the film along with seven other NFB documentaries and broadcast them on 11 of its stations.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Evans 1991, p. 231.
  2. ^ "Past Winners: 1977" (PDF). yorktonfilm.com. Yorkton Film Festival. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
  3. ^ Evans 1991, p. 231-232.
  4. ^ "NY Times: High Grass Circus". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2011. Archived from the original on May 21, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
  5. ^ "The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. October 5, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Ohayon, Albert (July 4, 2014). "High Grass Circus: low-tech, grassroots entertainment". NFB/Blog. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved July 4, 2014.

Works cited

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