''Power Alley'' () is a 2023

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

co-written and directed by Lillah Halla. The film centres on Sofia (Ayomi Domenica Dias), a 17-year-old

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

who is on the verge of being offered an athletic scholarship, when she unexpectedly finds herself pregnant and must struggle to find a way to get an

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

in light of the political and legal situation in the country. The film also addresses secondary themes about the status of

LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...

communities in Brazil; Sofia herself is dating one of her teammates, and her volleyball team includes LGBTQ teammates whose own struggles for equality are depicted alongside Sofia's struggle for reproductive choice. Its supporting cast includes Loro Bardot, Grace Passô, Gláucia Vandeveld, Rômulo Braga and Larissa Siqueira.

Production

Halla's feature debut, the film was made as an international coproduction of companies from Brazil, France and Uruguay after its initial funding was rescinded in a wave of politically-motivated arts cutbacks by the government of

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and former military officer who served as the 38th president of Brazil from 2019 to 2023. He previously served as a member of Brazil's Chamber of Deputies (Brazil), Chamb ...

Distribution

Ahead of its premiere, the film secured a sales deal with M-Appeal, which announced numerous international distribution deals later in the year. The film premiered in the Critics' Week program at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it was the winner of the

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

Prize for Parallel Sections and was in contention for the Queer Palm. At the 2023 Festival du nouveau cinéma in Canada, it was the winner of the inaugural

Fierté Montréal Fierté Montréal, also called Montreal Pride, is an annual LGBT pride festival in Montreal, Quebec. The event was founded in 2007 at the initiative of Montreal’s LGBTQ+ communities after the city's prior Pride festival, Divers/Cité, reposi ...

prize for best LGBTQ-themed film in the festival lineup.

Reception

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 10037498 2023 films 2023 drama films 2023 LGBTQ-related films Brazilian drama films Brazilian LGBTQ-related films French drama films French LGBTQ-related films Uruguayan drama films Uruguayan LGBTQ-related films Films about abortion Films shot in Brazil Films set in Brazil 2020s LGBTQ-related drama films 2020s Brazilian films 2020s French films 2020s Uruguayan films