Nordisk Panorama 2024: City of Malmö’s Audience Award to Balomania
| by Sissel Morell Dargis, 94 min, Denmark, Spain, 2024. |
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| Synopsis: In the heart of Brazil’s favelas a secret society of hot air balloon-makers risk arrest to create and fly their illegal masterpieces, painting the sky with colour. Condemned by the authorities as dangerous delinquents, the ’baloeiros’ are outlaw street artists operating in secrecy, evading government reprisal and bounty hunters, and bringing joy to communities. About the director: Sissel Morell Dargis (b. 1992, Denmark) has a background in painting graffiti, which led her to photography, and eventually documentary. As a teenager she lived in Brazil where she through graffiti became part of the secret balloon world. This would become the setting of her first feature film Balomanía. She is a graduate of the Cuban film school EICTV, where she directed several shorts that screened across the world. Later on she went into games studying at The National Film School of Denmark. Here she developed the indie game Cai Cai Balão, which was nominated at the Independent Games Festival, Indiecade and exhibited at the Smithsonian Arts Museum, Museum da Favela and won Games for Change Latin America for Best Game, and Game of Impact. Cai Cai Balão is set in the same world as Balomania and is a crossover of characters and situations between the film and game. About the award: To receive the City of Malmö’s Audience Award at Nordisk Panorama Film Festival is among the finest appreciations a filmmaker can get. The audience can vote for any of the Nordic short films and documentaries competing in the main competition programmes. The award goes to the director(s) of the winning film. Prize: The cash award of 2.500€ is sponsored by the City of Malmö. |
