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The Red Balloon (Le ballon rouge) is a short film directed by French film-maker Albert Lamorisse in 1956.

The thirty-four minute film (which has sound but no dialogue) is set in Ménilmontant, Paris, and follows the adventures of a young boy, (played by Lamorisse's son, Pascal), who finds a large red balloon. The balloon has a mind and will of its own, following Pascal wherever he goes, floating outside his bedroom (as Pascal's mother won't allow it in the house). In their wanderings around Paris, Pascal and the balloon encounter a gang of bullies, but tragedy is replaced by a magically happy ending.

An eight-minute spoof sequel was released in 2000 called "Revenge of the Red Balloon". In the film, the balloon hunts down the bullies from the original film.

Cast

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• Pascal Lamorisse (Pascal)
• Georges Sellier
• Vladimir Popov
• Paul Perey
• René Marion
• Sabine Lamorisse
• Michel Pezin

Awards

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• 1956: Palme d'Or du court métrage at the Cannes Film Festival.
• 1956: Academy Award for Original Screenplay.
• 1956: New York Film Critics' Award.
• 1957: BAFTA special award.
• 1968: American Film Festival: Best Film of the Decade.

External links

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• French films at the UTSA library

French films | Palme d'Or winners | Short films | 1956 films