Artistic Statement from Filmmaker Dafna Yachin:

I met Equine Extremists siblings Tommie and Karen Turvey while directing a commercial that involved stunt riders. The brother and sister team were probably the most intriguing actors I’ve met on any commercial shoot. Their talent with training animals and strong family ties as second-generation stunt people, along with an extended circus family, gave me access to worlds I could’ve only dreamt of escaping to as a child.

At the time, Karen Turvey was traveling the world with the famous French Canadian horse extravaganza, Cavalia. Tommie Turvey was making a name for himself on the rodeo circuit and in movies such as John Adams (HBO). We wrapped the commercial but stayed in touch to collaborate on creating a television series about historic and cultural extreme equine events around the world.

We began coordinating a pilot in Florida about the oldest form of entertainment—Bareback Riding. The Turveys felt it would be difficult to get so many circus stars in one arena, but as we began booking the shoot in Orlando, Ringling Bros. announced the elimination of their three-rings and the big top—a devastating blow to bareback riding professionals everywhere. Within days of the announcement, bareback families living in the United States, and some in Europe, asked to come join the rogue riders to show solidarity in a once-in-a-lifetime performance.

“The Great Flip-Off” organically took shape at a lightning speed, with me being the lucky director of this unusual and gorgeous exhibition. We knew what we now had in front of our lens was not a pilot, but a unique documentary that, like the magic of the circus, would delight people of all ages.

Once you meet the families, from the seventh generation Italian Zoppe’s, the Donnerts’ who escaped from communist Hungary, to the Loyals of London who joined forces with the Mexican Suarez family, not only will their skill draw you in, but the interpersonal portrait of their family will capture your heart and submerge you in their fascinating world.

Jumping through flaming hoops and executing somersaults high into the bigtop while bare-back on magnificent steeds does not make them flinch. For these families, fear is not felt at the face of their daring stunts, but rather at the pending unknown: their future without a ring.

For a filmmaker who usually tackles international subjects on cultural preservation and human rights, “The Great Flip Off” has given me warm pause to recall my childhood and the television specials I enjoyed watching with my Dad on Sunday nights.

It would be an honor to get the chance to return 10 years later to complete the documentary, to find out how these families, who make up such a unique part of American History, have dealt with the passing of time, and to finally see the range of their unusual endings from happy success to ultimate heartbreak. “The Great Flip-Off” is important living history, and its story will document the unforgettable art of the American Circus, while delighting old, young and generations to come.