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On the eve of a major championship game for her LGBTQ+-inclusive volleyball team, Sofia is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an abortion—criminalised in Brazil—she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her.  

Synopsis

Promising Brazilian volleyball player Sofia, 17, is on the brink of a future-defining game she has worked tirelessly for. When she discovers her pregnancy, Sofia is forced to seek help in a country where abortion is criminalised in most circumstances. Desperate, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost. Luckily neither Sofia nor her boundlessly loving father and fiercely loyal teammates are willing to surrender to the blind fervour of the swarm.

Media Gallery

a group of friends hang out in front of a mirror, striking poses
a girl is in the car with her dad, the photograph is shot from the windscreen
a girl examines her stomach in the mirror
a woman with curly dark hair dyed blonde at the front smiles with her eyes closed

“Power Alley shows the very real barriers to access abortion in Brazil. It also delivers a powerful message about true friendship in a situation many women and girls end up having to face alone.”
- Andrea Carvalho, Brazil researcher, Human Rights Watch

“A compelling story that could happen to anyone in Brazil, or even in other countries, where there is no access to abortion.”
- Regina Tamés, deputy director, Women's Rights Division, Human Rights Watch

Learn more about HRW's work on Women's Rights
June 25, 2022
Judge Tries to Block Abortion for 11-Year-Old-Rape Survivor in Brazil
August 20, 2020
A 10-Year-Old Girl’s Ordeal to Have a Legal Abortion in Brazil

Credits

Lillah Halla

Director
Close up of woman with curly blonde hair looking at camera smiling

Lillah Halla (she/her/they/them) is a Brazilian filmmaker graduated from EICTV, Cuba. 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). LEVANTE (Power Alley), 2023, is her debut feature film. Her second feature, FLEHMEN, currently under development, was part of Full Circle Lab Nouvelle Aquitaine and Sam Spiegel Jerusalem Lab in 2021/2022.

Clarissa Guarilha

Producer
Black and white photo of woman smiling at camera with short dark hair

 

Clarissa Guarilha (she/her) is a film producer and founding partner of Arissas, based in Rio de Janeiro since 2008. She works on different documentary and fiction projects with an authorial profile and potential for international distribution. Among her most recent works are the multi-awarded POWER ALLEY, debut film by Brazilian director Lillah Halla (Fipresci Award Critic’s Week Cannes 2023), and HILDA’S SHORT SUMMER, by Uruguayan director Agustín Banchero (San Sebastián IFF 2021). She has also co-produced the feature films THE JOY (Cannes Director’s Fortnight 2010), by Felipe Bragança and Marina Meliande, and HERE IS SO FAR (Best Feature New Voices Rio IFF 2013), by Eliza Capai. She is currently developing the feature projects BEYOND THE EDGE, by Jô Serfaty (awarded at MAFIZ Málaga), CARTAS PARA UM FUTURO ESQUECIDO, by Pablo Francischelli and Takumã Kuikuro, both projects supported by local regional funds, and LAS MUERTES PASAJERAS (selected at Ibermedia Program), second feature by Agustín Banchero.

Rafaella Costa

Producer
Black and white close up of woman with wavy light hair looking at camera smiling

Founder of Manjericão Filmes, Rafaella Costa (she/her) has a degree in Cinema and Business from Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). She executive and creatively produces projects focused on representativeness, artistic content and international potential. She coproduced POWER ALLEY (2023), by Lillah Halla, Fipresci award at Cannes’Critic’s Week. Among her previous works is MY NAME IS BAGHDAD (Best Film at the Berlinale Generation 14plus 2020 and another 15 awards) and UNDERAGE (Best Film at the Rio Film Festival, 2013), directed by Caru Alves de Souza; also EXPRESS KIDNAPPING (2018) and BRING IT INSIDE (2016), both by Tata Amaral. Co-produced THE SILENT PARTY by Diego Fried and Federico Finkielstain (Argentina/Brazil, 2019). She is currently working on the pre-production of SHE’S NOT COMING BACK, a documentary by Renata Sette about the cycle of domestic violence. Rafaella also acts as an executive producer producing series for Disney +, Star + , HBO Max and Universal +.

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