The International Critics’ Week, the independent parallel non-competitive section of the Cannes Film Festival screening first and second films by directors from all over the world, unveiled this morning the lineup for its 62nd edition, which includes the Brazilian film Power Alley / Levante by Lillah Halla as its only Latin American selection.
The debut feature by Halla, a co-production with France and Uruguay, tells the story of promising volleyball player Sofia (17) who, on the eve of a future-defining championship, is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an illegal termination, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost—but neither Sofia nor those who love her are willing to surrender to the blind fervor of the swarm.
Halla is a Brazilian filmmaker graduated from Cuba’s Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión (EICTV). Her short film Menarca (2020), was one of the ten selected at the Cannes Film Festival Critics' Week, licensed by Canal + and MUBI. Menarca was awarded at TIFF -Tirana (2021), Toulouse (2021), Kurzfilmtage Winterthur (2020) and Curta Cinema (2020). Power Alley is her first feature film. Her second feature, Flehmen, under development, was part of Full Circle Lab Nouvelle Aquitaine and Sam Spiegel Jerusalem Lab in 2021/2022.
The 62nd edition of the Critics’ Week will take place May 17-25 in Cannes, France.
