BALLOoN WARS

BALLOON WARS travels into the heart of Brazil's favelas where a hidden society of hot air balloon makers sacrifice everything to make their illegal creations fly.

Under the wings of the legendary balloon maker Jaba and the rivaling balloon hunter Ton, the director Sissel is initiated into the balloon brotherhood, where subversive silk paper and delirious flying objects sweep her into an addictive kinship.

But the apparently innocent balloons have a dark side, and soon Sissel is caught up in a labyrinth of unwritten rules commanded by the balloon mafia. Realizing that all pleasure has a price, Sissel, but also Ton and Jabá will have to wake up from their colourful dream and face reality as it is.

With the balloons as the cinematic anchor, BALLON WARS takes us on a surreal journey into a country in socio-economical freefall and political meltdown. An intimate yet explosive, multi-layered film, which will challenge all former beliefs about favelas, gang life and the power of art.

The director, Sissel Morell Dargis has a background as a graffiti-painter and photographer in São Paulo. She recently graduated as a documentary director from Escuela Internacional de Cine y Television, Cuba, a school initiated by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

PROJECT

Title: Balloon Wars
Director: Sissel Morell Dargis
Producer: Jesper Jack, Marie Olesen
Co-producers: JA-Film (DK), Polar Star Films (ES)
Editor: Isabel Monteiro de Castro, Bruno Herrero
Duration: 75/58
Formats: Documentary
Platforms: TV, cinema, web, mobile game
Partners: The Danish Film Institute, ICEC - The Catalunian Film Fund, SVT, VGTV, NFTV, Al Jazeera, Den Vestdanske Filmpulje, Creative Europe & Cavendish Pictures
Delivery: 2022

STATUS: Under production