ECAM Incubator Title ‘Laughing’ Gets Into The Struggles of a Circus Family

SAN SEBASTIAN  – Madrid’s ECAM Incubator has a strong history surfacing talent. One from this year’s crop vying for that next step is “Laughing” (“Riure”), the feature debut of Jordi Boquet Claramunt. Developed in collaboration with Pausa Dramàtica Films and Fractal, the film casts into the world of the circus while exploring family, identity, and belonging. 

Claramunt, who won a Gaudi Award for his short “Neither Forget Nor Forgive,” teams up again with producer Anna Moragriega Farrés, co-founder of Pausa Dramàtica with Olga Doganoc.

Currently in development, “Laughing” centers on Lola, a young clown raised in her family’s dwindling circus. A pivotal moment occurs when a trained horse accidentally injures a child during a performance. “I like to define this film as the story of a modern little mermaid, lived through the eyes of Lola, a young clown who has grown up in her parents’ circus, but who is eager to find her own path away from a circus tent she feels no longer represents her,” Claramunt told Variety, adding “To put it simply, I sometimes say it’s the story of a clown who has lost her desire to laugh or keep making people laugh.”

The once-thriving business is collapsing, “She wonders if there is really a point in inheriting a decaying circus where she doesn’t feel listened to and decides to look for new creative opportunities outside,” the director explained. 

From here she joins a drama acting school in the city, where “she feels more listened to and creatively empowered, where she can meet people her age with similar dreams and aspirations. But she will also find a society way more individualistic, cynical and also full of masks in contrast to the communal lifestyle of her family circus.”

Co-written by Boquet Claramunt and Tomàs Bayo Encontra, “Laughing” plumbs generational conflict within a tight-knit, outsider world. Claramunt’s research has been immersive:, “This summer, I have been living and working with an active family circus, setting up the tent and living in a small van. This has made me realize how hard and demanding it is to have a circus nowadays: Facing harsh outer criticism, increasing bureaucracy and the competence of newer and more comfortable forms of art.”
Producer Farrés elaborated on the project’s journey, in addition to ECAM “We have participated in several script labs, and the Incubator has provided the necessary support for the production and design aspects of our film. In 2022, we were part of the FaberLlull Residence and the SGAE Foundation Script Lab.”

Pausa Dramàtica Films, founded by Farrés and Doganoc, leads the film’s development. “The team we’ve formed, along with co-writer Tomàs Bayo Encontra, holds deep significance for me and my production company. This partnership has inspired both me and my partner, Olga Doganoc, to promote new voices who may be our friends or young talents who share our values,” Farrés said.

The filmmaker hopes it will speak to a generation, “post millennials who are currently facing an uncertain or discouraging future, something that also clashes with the huge ambition and desire to “grow” that was put in us.” he said.  

“At a time where anything is possible but everything seems impossible at the same time, Lola delves into a fight between her desire to find her own ambitious path and the constant frustration of feeling she doesn’t belong anywhere or no one really understands her, a feeling I think resonates with people of my generation.”