North American Premiere
In the labyrinthine underworld of São Paulo, hidden away from the violence of drug trafficking and gang wars, there lies a secret society of baloeiros: giant hot air balloonists. Since the centuries-old folk art of crafting and releasing paper balloons was outlawed by the Brazilian government in the 1990s, gangs of dedicated artists meet in clandestine workshops to design the most extravagant balloons while looking over their shoulders for police, or worse, informants. The balloons are truly breathtaking in their sheer scale: up to 70 metres tall, carrying banners the size of football fields, payloads of 10,000 fireworks, or scaffolds of candlelit lanterns designed into gigantic portraits of pop culture figures illuminated against the night sky.
Filmmaker Sissell Morell Dargis arrived in Brazil from Denmark when she was 19 and spent over a decade earning the trust and documenting the story of these baloeiros who risk their lives for their art. She’s crafted a thrilling, insightful chronicle of artistic ambitions as beautiful, strange, and ephemeral as the balloons themselves.
Sept 27 & 29: Q&A with director Sissel Morell Dargis
Media Partner
Sissel Morell Dargis, Jabá Ricardo Mariano, Ton Everton Soares
Denmark/Spain
2024
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Max Peltz, Marieke van den Bersselaar
Producer
Jesper Jack, Carles Brugueras, Marieke van den Bersselaar, Marie Schmidt Olesen
Cinematography
Sissel Morell Dargis
Editor
Biel Andrés, Isabel Monteiro de Castro, Rikke Selin Als, Steen Johannessen
Original Music
Aquiles Ghirelli, Novissimo Edgar
Sissel Morell Dargis
Sissel Morell Dargis is a Danish filmmaker, graffiti painter, and game director born to Lithuanian and Spanish parents in Copenhagen. Sissel has lived in several Latin American countries, most notably Brazil where she studied multimedia and communication. She started a social project for youth in the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro using art and cross-media tools for social advocacy. After studying documentary filmmaking at EICTV in Cuba, she graduated in 2018 with her acclaimed short film Plástico, winning the Opening Scenes Award at Visions du Réel. Sissel graduated as a game and animation director from The National Film School of Denmark with her indie game Cai Cai Balão, also set in Brazil’s secret world of hot air balloon makers. It was nominated at IGF 2022, exhibited at the Smithsonian Art Museum, and awarded at Games of Change. A new mobile version of the game is currently under development. Balomania is Sissel’s debut in the long format.
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Foreigner
An Iranian teenager who recently immigrated to Canada is desperate to make friends at her new high school. Pressured to dye her hair blonde, she unleashes a demonic force rooted within her. A humourous coming-of-age horror from Ava Maria Safai.
Clan of the Painted Lady
Jennifer Chiu’s engrossing documentary explores the Hakka — a people, a language, and a culture that have been obscured for far too long. Tracing her own lineage back to from Canada to China, the director creates an illuminating, bravely personal film.
Finch & Midland
Timothy Yeung’s film tells the story of four Hong Kong immigrants living in Scarborough, Ontario. With exceptional performances from its four leads, the film explores the Asian diaspora, social malaise, and the hardships of life under late capitalism.
The Essence of Eva
Tragically dying years before she’d rise to global fame, Eva Cassidy was an uncompromising artist whose transcendent voice still resonates. With never-before-heard recordings and footage, this intimate portrait captures the person behind the legend.
4: Um, womanhood
Shorts from: Canada, Columbia, France, Netherlands, Sweden.
The Strange Little Cat
This droll, perfectly executed comedy chronicles a day in the life of a multigenerational family prepping a celebratory dinner in their cramped Berlin apartment. Putting daily life’s absurdities on display, it's an exciting choreography of the quotidian.