7 PRISONERS (7 Prisioneiros) ¡VIVA EL CINE! / SURPRISE / WORLD
BRAZIL 2021, 93 min Director Alexandre Moratto From a distance, this lush green landscape is paradise, but up close, life within it is unsustainable. So, Mateus (Christian Malheiros, a compelling talent) and his friends venture to São Paulo, a sprawling gray megalopolis, seeking to improve their fortunes. But the promise of room, board, and a salary in change for their toil quickly evaporates as they find themselves trapped cogs in the modern-day slavery machine. Brazilian leading man Rodrigo Santoro delivers a startling but subtle turn as a kind of dissipated Simon Legree who sees promise in canny Mateus. With world-cinema powerhouses Fernando Meirelles (City of God) and Ramin Bahrani (The White Tiger) among its producers, Alexandre Moratto’s (Socrates) slow-burning sophomore outing makes confident use of quick cuts and a constantly moving camera to build dread in this powerful morality tale. There is a way out for Mateus, but the price of freedom may be too steep. In Portuguese with English subtitles –Shari Kizirian
Friday, Oct 15, 7:30pm, Rafael
SPONSORED BY LUCASFILM LTD.
AMERICAN GADFLY US / DOCS
US 2020, 95 min Director Skye Wallin In 1971, Alaskan US Senator Mike Gravel famously made public the “Pentagon Papers,” exposing the worst of our government’s secret policies during the Vietnam War. Nearly a half-century later, having retired after decades as a progressive public servant, he ran for POTUS—at age 89. Why? Because some New York teenagers asked him to. Skye Wallin’s documentary offers a humorous, inspiring look at whip-smart, social-media-savvy high schoolers running a national presidential campaign. Their goal is not to “win,” but simply to pressure the Democratic Party establishment into addressing the issues important to their generation, many of which Gravel championed long before they were born. While learning some bitter truths about real politics, they also succeed beyond their wildest imaginations. American Gadfly is a stirring rebuke to cynicism and disengagement, proving that the ordinary citizen without special connections or great wealth can rattle the halls of power, to democracy’s benefit. –Dennis Harvey
Monday, Oct 11, 8:15pm, Sequoia Tuesday, Oct 12, 7:30pm, Sequoia Streaming (US only) 42
