Balentes

Filmstill Balentes

Balentes

Balentes
Giovanni Columbu
International Competition Animated Film
Animated Film
Italy,
Germany
2024
69 minutes
Italian,
Sardinian
Subtitles: 
English
German premiere

Sardinia, 1940. The harmless term “horsing around” takes on a very serious and ultimately tragic meaning for 14-year-old Michele and his 11-year-old friend Ventura. When they learn that the peasants have sold their best horses for serious money to the state and thus to the military for the approaching war, the two boys take a decision that is as naïve as it is intuitive: They free the herd in a daring nighttime operation. Their happiness is short-lived. Betrayed by a villager, they are caught on the way home and Ventura is shot dead. A senseless death? Or a sign of special bravery, as the ambiguous Sardinian film title suggests?
Director Giovanni Columbu, a Sardinian himself, has dedicated his late animation debut to his grandmother who once told him the story. He took the liberty of adapting it with brushstrokes on paper, his style drawing primarily on the charms of historical painting schools, animation techniques and cinema genres. Columbu’s associative visual language, marked by shades of black, white, and grey, is animated by impulsive hatchings, countless dots, and generous elisions. The soundtrack, too, sets rather sparse nuances – subtle illustrations that draw on Sardinian cultural traditions while opening a space for universal metaphors.


Andreas Körner

Screenings & Tickets DOK Leipzig Logo

29.10.
#343
CineStar 6
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
29.10.2025
CineStar 6
#343
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar
30.10.
#4C1
Cinémathèque
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
30.10.2025
Cinémathèque
#4C1
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar
31.10.
DOK Stream 24h
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
31.10.2025
DOK Stream 24h
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar
02.11.
#774
Passage Kinos Wintergarten
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
02.11.2025
Passage Kinos Wintergarten
#774
Balentes
During Checkout you can apply discounts, your accreditation or season passes
Calendar

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Giovanni Columbu
Script
Giovanni Columbu
Editor
Giovanni Columbu
Producer
Giovanni Columbu
Co-Producer
Flavia Oertwig
Score
André Feldhaus, Filippo Ripamonti, Alessandro Olla, Hans Zeller, Pietro Mascagni
Animation
Giovanni Columbu
Animation Technique
Drawn

Contact DOK Leipzig Logo

Main Contact
Flavia Oertwig
flaviaoertwig@gmail.com