Balomania

When Sissel moved from Denmark to Brazil at the age of 17, she first got involved in the graffiti scene. But then she discovered a milieu that has a decades-long tradition in the country’s favelas, the world of the baloeiros. They make incredible, colourful hot-air balloons that they send aloft to fly across the sky. Sissel is fascinated and determined to make a film about it. But the ballooning is forbidden by the authorities, who avidly pursue its practitioners. The filmmaker must first win the trust of the baloeiros before she is given access to the secret locations where the artful orbs, sometimes taking years to complete, are made and launched. Sissel goes deep into the underground scene. She introduces us to the unconditional devotion and solidarity necessary to send balloons with diameters of up to 70 meters soaring skyward, sometimes with the help of more than a 100 people.