Born in Paris in 1922, Albert Lamorisse began making films in the late 40s. He quickly achieved international recognition for the poetic quality of his short and medium-length films about children and the imagination. Crin Blanc won the Jean Vigo Prize in 1952 and receives the Grand Prix for short film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1953 . The Red Balloon received the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1956 and an Oscar the following year. He died in a helicopter accident near Tehran in 1970 while shooting a documentary, Le Vent des amoureux.