Circus for Humanity Documentary

Production moved to Sydney for several days, where we caught up with three more of the volunteer performers preparing for Nepal, Michael, and mother-daughter duo Mel and Kayla.

We sat down for intimate pre departure interviews with all three, capturing the personal stories behind their involvement in the project. With Michael, we also filmed performance footage around Sydney Harbour at sunset, creating some beautiful visual material to accompany his story.

For Mel and Kayla, filming focused on their relationship, their shared connection to circus, and the routines they’ve been practising together before Nepal. Mel spoke openly about surviving domestic violence in past relationships and rebuilding her life through circus and performance, eventually becoming a viral online and television personality. Her journey has also helped inspire her daughter Kayla, who has lived with severe social anxiety and has now found the confidence to perform alongside her mother and also on her own.

Michael’s story carries a very different kind of emotional weight. His sister, who was also his childhood best friend, was hit by a bus and left permanently disabled. She was the person who first introduced him to circus, and that connection continues to shape his relationship with performance today.

These Sydney scenes add another layer to the documentary’s pre-departure chapter, helping establish the very different lives, histories and motivations each performer will carry with them into Nepal.

Production continued in rural New South Wales, where several days were spent capturing the story of Tim Webster, the founder of Humanitarian Clowns charity and the person behind Circus for Humanity trips.

Tim’s connection to this work is deeply personal. As a child, he battled leukaemia and spent time in hospital, experiences that would later shape the direction of his life. Since then, he has travelled extensively, dedicating much of his life to humanitarian work and to creating opportunities for joy, play and connection through circus and performance in communities around the world.

Alongside the interview, we captured observational footage, personal details and the environment around Tim, helping build a fuller picture of the person behind the organisation and the journey that led to the development of Circus for Humanity.

We also had the opportunity to sit down with Tim’s mum, Marguerite, and hear the story from her perspective. She became a mother at 19 and, in those early years, was navigating a domestic violence relationship with Tim’s father. Then, when Tim was just two years old, he was diagnosed with leukaemia while Marguerite was also caring for a newborn.

It was an emotional and deeply personal interview, with Marguerite reflecting on those years and the impact they had on both her and Tim.

Her interview adds an important layer to the documentary by grounding Tim’s story in the family experience behind it — not just what happened to him, but what it meant for the people around him and how those early experiences helped shape the life and work that followed.

The first chapter of Circus for Humanity has officially begun.

Pre departure filming in Melbourne has started with Sam and Leah two of the performers joining the Nepal journey, capturing their background stories, performances and the people behind the personas before we reunite with them overseas.

Sam brings a collection of characters and personas of his own, while Leah’s story carries a deeply personal connection to circus, honouring the legacy of her late juggler father and carrying his juggling balls with her on every Circus for Humanity trip.

This will be Leah’s third trip with the charity, having previously travelled to Laos and Cambodia to share circus, performance and play with local communities.

These early interviews are helping build the foundations of the documentary, understanding who the performers are, what has shaped them, and what they’re bringing into the journey before the main story unfolds in Nepal.