A little boy and his baby-sitter inhabit the same imaginary world: through their adventures they are followed by a strange red balloon.

In Paris, Chinese cinema student Song Fang is hired to work as the nanny of Simon by his divorced mother Suzanne, who works voicing marionettes in a theater. Suzanne is having trouble with her tenant Marc, who does not pay the rent, while she waits for the return of her older daughter Louise, who lives with her father in Brussels.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Suzanne is charming but she is a mother snowed under by obligations. With her puppet shows, the classes she teaches, and two children she has been raising alone since their father left, she hasn't a minute to herself. To help her, she takes in a young Taiwanese babysitter, Song Fang, who is a student at the University of Paris. On his way home from school, 7-year-old Simon leads Song Fang through the streets and cafés of his neighborhood. Song Fang and Simon soon share an imaginary world in which a strange red balloon follows them, even in the exhibition space of the Musée d'Orsay. While Suzanne is caught up in a court case involving her downstairs tenant who refuses to leave, Song Fang becomes more important in her life every day, and Song Fang's Asian perspective is what ultimately helps Suzanne get to grips with her life.—Jason Grimshaw