Ballon Rouge Gallery

Ballon Rouge

Le Ballon Rouge is a short, beautifully made film shot in colour, which tells the story of a little boy who finds a bright red balloon tied to a lamppost. He unties it, and finds out that it has a mind of its own. The balloon follows him around, bobbling along behind him, on the bus to school, even getting him into trouble with his head teacher. A group of bullies, jealous of the boy and his friendly balloon, chase them through the streets and destroy it. The film ends with all the balloons of Paris float to the sad boy and fly him away into the sky.

Le Ballon Rouge was filmed in the Belleville area of Paris, which at the time was made up of slums. Apparently only five per cent of what you see in the film is left today, as the film’s release prompted the demolition of the slums, which were replaced with housing projects in the 1960’s.

Istanbul, London, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Paris, New York… Ballon Rouge began as a nomadic gallery but eventually set up shop on place du Jardin aux Fleurs in 2019. Besides its own exhibitions, Ballon Rouge also receives exhibitions from international galleries.