Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Oberhausen 2021 (International Competition)

A clown is grimacing into the webcam from his living room; an aerialist is trying to stay in shape on her balcony; a circus director is suffering from the cold in his caravan because he cannot afford the heating costs: “Zoom on Circus” brings together the social, political and aesthetical aspects of the current Corona pandemic in an accurate yet heart-wrenching way: the human desire or even the human necessity to laugh even in times of a crisis; the hardship of artists and people engaged in the cultural sector who are threatened by losing their means of existence; the art of improvisation that the circus as well as Zoom require equally and therefore the technical and social possibility of decreasing the distance by means of humor. Congratulations, Dominique Mayer, for this authentic and entertaining short film!