Short, but strong

The only short film to win in a non-short-film category is French film The Red Balloon, winner of the 1957 award for Best Original Screenplay.

A young boy, wandering alone through the streets of Paris, finds and befriends a red balloon, and he and it follow each other through various misadventures. The boy misses his bus to school because the driver will not allow him on the vehicle with the balloon. But soon, the balloon proves itself capable of following the boy on its own volition. The boy, apparently friendless, suffers many setbacks, as he gets into trouble for bringing the balloon to school, and finds himself harassed at the hands of a mob of schoolmates seeking to steal or destroy the toy.

The dialogue is minimal, with only a few spoken lines, most of which are the boy talking to the balloon, and the runtime of the film barely clears the 30 minute mark, but I came out of the movie feeling like I knew the boy better than most characters who spend two hours on the screen talking and interacting with others. Hell, even the balloon was a more developed character than some that I have seen. Empathetic, cute, and family-friendly, this would be a great choice to watch with young children.

Movie trivia question: As I mentioned in a previous post, Oscar nominees for best lead performance tend to go to actors and actresses who have already established themselves within their profession. There have been a few notable exceptions, though. What was the first role to win an Oscar for best lead performance for and actor/actress in his/her debut film acting performance?