They
say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Apparently, it also runs
through the hardscrabble Wishi community in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Two novice
filmmakers decided to document the construction of a much-needed school for the
village, but instead, they witnessed chaos, confusion, and moments of sheer
terror. Ashley Bishop & Jim Brassard are still not sure what exactly went
down, but it was definitely a mess judging from the footage they assembled into
the unintentionally gonzo doc, Circus
Ecuador (trailer
here), which screens during the 2018 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.
Admittedly,
Elizabeth Gray was a tireless fundraiser around Albany, convincing the entire
community to invest in the Wishi Project. Bishop and Brassard were so impressed,
they dropped out of grad school to chronicle her efforts, even though the did
not speak Spanish (or Shuar, the indigenous language spoken in the Wishi
community). Unfortunately, as soon as they arrived in-country, her leadership
started to flag. After one meeting with some self-appointed community leaders,
the filmmakers believed they were in grave danger of being abducted—and it was
all downhill from there.
While
Brassard and Bishop were fearing for their lives, Gray seemed content to play
Lady Bountiful with her favorites in the village (not that you could really
call it a village). Just when they think the project will finally have some
adult supervision with the arrival of Greg Sheldon from Gray’s fiscal sponsor,
he starts talking about UFOs and ancient civilizations. However, they start to
get some lowdown from “Canada” and “CIA Chuck,” two local “business partners” suspected
of representing the CSIS and CIA, respectively, at least until Chuck starts
changing his story. Regardless, everyone seems to agree there is gold in the
nearby river.
According
to their voice-overs, it took Bishop and Brassard quite a bit of time to figure
out what they should do with their footage. Obviously, this would not be the
sunny, feel-good film they were envisioning. What they ended up with is frankly
mind-blowing, combining the unvarnished expose of the human cost of unintended
consequences found in Mark Grieco’s A River Below with a staggering lack of self-awareness, worthy of the docu-mocker,
Kung Fu Elliot.
If
nothing else, Circus acts as a withering
corrective to the idea we can simply shower money on a struggling community and
everything will be fine. There is no substitute for proper due diligence. For
instance, we eventually start to question whether Wishi is really even a
community, when evidence surfaces it might just be a semi-organized group of
squatters, hoping to steal a claim on lawfully titled land.
By
the time Bishop and Brassard run out of footage, we can only shake our heads at
the massive folly of it all. Yet, the biggest punchline isn’t even in the film.
According to the University of Albany’s website, Gray is now Assistant Dean of
the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity. You
have to wonder what the board will think of this film. At least Brassard and
Bishop salvaged a film that holds great value, albeit of a cautionary variety. Very
highly recommended for general audiences, Circus
Ecuador screens again this Monday (1/22), as part of this year’s Slamdance.