Introductory conversation with director Lillah Halla and Thaís Omine

Sofia, the captain of a volleyball team from São Paolo who is full of queer energy, is fighting hard for a future as a professional player. However, an unwanted pregnancy suddenly threatens to destroy not only her dream of playing in the top league, but her entire future. In search of an abortion - which is a criminal offence in Brazil - she is targeted by a group of evangelical extremists who want to prevent it. With the collective support of her team who rise up to protect their fellow teammate and her single father, she tries everything to keep her dream alive.

Power Alley shows the very real obstacles to accessing abortion in Brazil. With her debut film, Lillah Halla also shows the uncompromising solidarity among socially marginalised women* who know that they must stand together against the oppression of a society governed by conservatism, classism and clericalism. (ML)

Lillah Halla is a Brazilian director and screenwriter graduated in Directing and Scriptwriting at the EICTV-Cuba (2010- 2014), based between Berlin and São Paulo.
Her debut feature Levante ( BR/ FR/UY |2023 |99 mins ) and the previous short film Menarca ( BR |2020 |23 mins) have both premiered at Semaine de la Critique, in Cannes and have been internationally awarded.
Lillah is the co-founder of the São Paulo-based film collective Vermelha, a trans feminist film network in Brazil since 2014.
Before directing, Lillah worked in theatre productions between Brazil and Germany, with directors such as C. Schlingensief, Frank Castorf and José Celso Martinez Correa (Teatro Oficina).

Thaís Omine (she/her) is a queer Okinawan-Brazilian visual anthropologist based in Berlin.

(OPEN AIR) Levante