Directed by the internationally acclaimed, award-winning Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien (Café Lumière, City of Sadness), this exquisite film, inspired by Albert Lamorisse’s classic 1953 film The Red Balloon (described by François Truffaut as “one of the most beautiful colour films ever made”), finds its own place within a continuing tradition of great French cinema.

A young boy, Simon (Simon Iteanu) must deal with the increasing fragility of his mother, the loving yet preoccupied puppeteer Suzanne, played by Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche (The English Patient, Dan in Real Life). Overwhelmed by the demands of her chaotic existence, Suzanne hires Song (Song Fan), a Taiwanese film student, to help care for Simon. With Song, a unique extended family is formed, utterly interdependent yet lost in their separate thoughts and dreams; all this is mirrored by a delicate, shiny red balloon that hovers above the Paris streets.

Special Features:
‘The Red Balloon’ – Albert Lamorisse’s classic short
Original theatrical trailer