The Red Balloon & White Mane

A film that has enchanted generations of children and their parents, The Red Balloon (1956) has been beautifully restored and is available for the first time in almost a decade. French filmmaker Albert Lamorisse cast his 5-year-old son Pascal as The Little Boy who befriends a balloon with a life of its own on the streets of Paris. Their inseparable bond is a surprise for the neighbors and a cause of envy for the neighborhood bullies. The Red Balloon won the Palm d'Or for Best Short at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and now it returns to charm a new generation of fans. It will be screened with White Mane (1953), an earlier Cannes prize-winner by Albert Lamorisse, that focuses on a magnificent wild stallion in the region of the south of France called La Camargue. White Mane eludes taming by everyone except Folco, a young fisherman who becomes his one friend, in this longtime favorite of French children. The Red Balloon is virtually wordless, with minimal French dialogue. White Mane will be screened with English narration. Credits for both films: Music: Maurice Leroux. Camera: Edmond Séchan. Writer/Director: Albert Lamorisse. Total running time: 75 min.

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