Mister Universo

It's almost like something out of a child's daydream fantasy: that the world's strongest man will turn up and solve all your problems. Tairo dreams of exactly that, only that he is a grown-up man and works as a lion tamer at a travelling circus. Now his lucky charm, a horse shoe, has gone missing (perhaps someone stole it?), and this has a tangible negative effect on everything in Tairo's life, from the relationship with his girlfriend Wendy to his performance in the ring with the lions. Tairo therefore sets out on a journey to ask Arthur Robin, former Mister Universo, to forge hin a new horse shoe and put everything back in balance.

Mister Universo is a road movie about the strong connection between superstition and self confidence, and between physical and mental strength. It is also a film of flesh and blood, where all characters play slighly fictionalised versions of themselves. Directors Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel have previously made several films featuring circus and theater performers, and succeed once again in merging fiction and documentary elements to an authentic whole. Call it docufiction, hydrid film, art of the real, or whatever you like – this is cinema with a big heart. CF

Tizza Covi (b. 1971) from Italy og Rainer Frimmel (b. 1971) from Austria have made a number of feature films together, most of which play out in circus and theater environments in Austria and Italy. Babooska (2005) screened in over 130 film festivals across the world, and La Pivellina (2009) and The Shine of Day (2012) have won the hearts of critics as well as audiences.