Leading up to the Gent Film Festival, Charlie Chaplin's The Circus will be screened on 4 October. The Antwerp Metropolis Orchestra will perform the film's score at the Capitole in Ghent. Although Chaplin received his first Oscar for this film, it unfortunately also led to his divorce and a smear campaign against him.
The Oscar Academy described Charlie Chaplin's The Circus in 1928 as featuring versatile and ingenious writing, acting, directing and production work. In the film, “the little tramp” finds himself in trouble once again: he is broke and hungry, and destined to fall in love. As you might have guessed, he loses the girl. When the police are hot on his heels, having mistaken him for a pickpocket, he ends up in a circus tent. The audience mistakes his attempt to evade capture for a circus act, and the Tramp suddenly becomes the star. Despite the film's success, Chaplin was on the brink of ruin in real life. A lawsuit filed by his second wife for divorce led to a smear campaign by religious and moralistic groups who cornered Chaplin. This was the first major clash between him and the conservative right in America.