Leonor Teles from Portugal is the youngest director ever to win the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival, in the category for best short film.
The jury of the 66th Berlin Film Festival in 2016 awarded her film “Balada de um Batráquio”. The film also received a standing ovation from a large audience during the screening.
“Once upon a time, before humans appeared, all creatures were free,” says the narrator. “All the animals danced together and were extremely happy. But there was someone who wasn’t invited to the party – the frog. He committed suicide one day in a moment of anger because of that injustice towards him.”
In her film, the young director of Roma origin, Leonor Teles, intertwines the current life of Roma in Portugal with memories of the past. The film talks about the prejudice against the Roma in Portuguese society. Through this film story, the author wanted to draw the public’s attention to the beliefs and superstitions that degrade other people, in this case the Roma, and keep them on the social margins.
Leonor Teles was born in 1992 in Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. She graduated from the National Film School in Lisbon in 2013, majoring in cinematography and directing, and received her master’s degree in audiovisual arts and multimedia in 2015. Her earlier film – graduation work “Rhoma Acans” from 2013 was awarded at several European film festivals.