About the directors

Julia Lemke: The director, cinematographer and writer studied at the DFFB. Her works have been awarded numerous times. Since 2010 she has been working with Anna Koch as a directing duo. Together they made three successful documentary feature films that were screened at international festivals - Win By Fall, Glitzer & Staub and Circusboy. In 2013, Julia Lemke participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus.

Anna Koch: The director has been working with Julia Lemke since their studies at the DFFB. They graduated with their documentary Win By Fall about female wrestlers in East Germany, which was screened in Hof, Amsterdam and Austin amongst other festivals and received several awards. The duo then made a documentary about four US-cowgirls, called Glitzer & Staub, that premiered at the film festival Max Ophüls Preis and went on to international festivals. Circusboy is the first documentary film to be realized within the funding initiative “Der besondere Kinderfilm”.

Press reviews

“The film's highlights are the stories Santino’s great-grandpa tells, the ringmaster “Opa Ehe”. In his distinctive canny way, he carries out the history of circus for Santino. His stories are illustrated, deepened and cleverly commentated by the lovely animations of Magda Kreps and Lea Majeran.” (Fabian Wallmeier, rbb24)

“Between the beautiful shots, captured by Julia Lemke herself, and the soundscape of accordions from composers Nils Kacirek and Jörg Hochapfel, you get a taste of what it must feel like to always be on the road. Lemke and Koch draw this picture without ever romanticising it.” (Falk Straub, Kino-Magazin)