Filmmaker Statement

The Big Red Balloon is a story based on my real childhood memory and is a portrait of my grandfather who was an army general in Iran. Despite being in war for ten years and having a very high responsibility position all his life, he was a kind laughing open minded person who would only get brighter everyday. The story is really about who he was and what was left for me after him. This particular memory of him taking me to the park and asking me to do what I was the most afraid of, helped me to live after he was gone. I was lucky to spend a lot of time with him as a child because of how later in his career his job was lighter than when he was raising my mother and aunt. He was always open to read me something, to help me make something, do something, especially if he thought I am afraid that I will not be able to. Years later, when I was back in Iran after his heart has stopped, to be in his funeral, this single memory played and replayed in my mind and saved me from believing that I have lost him completely. The memory of having that big red balloon in my hand made me feel like I have something from him, almost like a power inside me that I can always hold on to.