Balomania

"The launching of colourful hot-air balloons has a rich tradition in Brazil, and its popularity didn’t diminish even when made illegal.

Fans of the dangerous pastime still spend years glueing together their spectacular creations. In secret, they make balloons tens of metres high, often needing hundreds of people to launch them. All their free time and money goes towards their hobby.

Danish documentary filmmaker Sissel Morell Dargis spent many years penetrating the closed community of these “baloeiros”. After gaining the necessary trust, she managed to film from unprecedented proximity an intimate and action-packed insight into the lives of people who can’t be deterred from their desire to create freely and fulfil their artistic dreams, even at the risk of imprisonment."