Balomania

Balonmania brings us to a secret society of giant hot air balloon manufacturers in the favelas of Brazil. They are willing to risk everything to make their illegal creations fly, some up to 70 meters high, accompanied by fireworks.

Sissel Morell Dargis is a Danish film director, graffiti painter and game director born in Copenhagen to Lithuanian and Spanish parents. Sissel has lived in several Latin American countries and spent most of her time in Brazil, where she studied multimedia and communication in São Paulo. She also worked as a freelance photographer, and at the age of 19 started a social project for young people in Rio de Jainero's Rocinha favela, using art and cross-media tools to campaign for social change. After leaving Brazil, Sissel continued studying documentary film at the EICTV in Cuba.

Year of production: 2024

Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes

Countries: Denmark/ Spain

Language: Portuguese. Original version with Spanish subtitles

Director: Sissel Morell Dargis

Cast:

Production: Carles Brugueras, Marieke van den Bersselaar, Jesper Jack and Marie Schmidt

Screenwriter:

Cinematography: Sissel Morell Dargis

Production companies: Polar Star Films and House of Real (DK)

International Sales: 

Selected at the following festivals: CPH: DOX (2024) – world premiere (Denmark); Visions du Réel (Switzerland)

Docs Barcelona – national premiere (May, Spain)

Sydney Film Festival (June, Australia) 

FilmFest München (June, Germany) 

IceDocs (July, Iceland)

Aegean Film Festival (July, Greece)

International Documentary & Short Film Festival of Kerala (July, India) 

MakeDox (August, Macedonia); Baltic Sea Docs (September, Latvia)

Nordisk Panorama (September, Sweden)

Tirana International Film Festival (September, Albania) and 

Vancouver International Film Festival (September, Canada)

Premiere in Madrid.