'Balomania' filmmaker Sissel Morell Dargis on the beauty behind Brazil's baloeiros, and getting your start in documentary filmmaking

Hot air ballooning has been illegal in São Paulo, Brazil since the 1990's. Intrigued by this underworld of guerilla artists, who risk their lives, and freedom in order to craft and release huge, lavishly decorated paper balloons up to 70 metres in height, Director Sissel Morell Dargis began creating 'Balomania' when she was 19, spending a decade earning the trust of these baloeiros to tell this story. Today, she joins the VIFF Podcast to talk starting from nothing as a filmmaker, how to finance your film, and most importantly, how to earn the trust of your subjects as a documentarian (especially when what they're doing is technically, outlawed). This episode was recorded during the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival. This podcast is brought to you by the Vancouver International Film Festival.Presented on the traditional and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.