Le ballon rouge
France, 1956, 36 minutes, color
Le Ballon rouge, a medium-length film directed by Albert Lamorisse in 1956, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956, the Oscar for best screenplay in 1957, the Louis Delluc Prize in 1956, the BAFTA Special Prize in 1957 and was named Best Film of the Decade at the Educational Film Awards.
Beyond its success among critics and in international festivals, the film was hugely successful in its many releases in theaters in France and abroad. It has become a cult film for several generations of children worldwide.
The film was also ahead of its time in terms of special effects.
synopsis
Le ballon rouge is about the friendship between a little boy and a magical balloon in Paris in the 1950’s. A boy frees a red balloon tied to a streetlight. To the surprise of the neighborhood, the balloon follows him in the streets of Paris, making the other children jealous.