Levante

Sofia (a superb Ayomi Domenica Dias) is the breakout star of her high-school volleyball team. She’s also just discovered she’s pregnant. In a country where abortion is illegal, her choices seem limited – particularly so when an abortion clinic in her economically impoverished neighbourhood is actually run by right-wing activists in an attempt to dissuade women and girls from seeking one. Sofia’s mother was Uruguayan, but she doesn’t have the money to travel, and that would mean telling her father about the situation. But supporting her at every step is Sofia’s team, a non-binary and female-identifying group, including love interest Bel.

A damning indictment of attitudes that resurged under the Bolsonaro regime – and which have a depressingly universal resonance – Lillah Halla’s film is also a celebration of empowerment found by Sofia and her teammates through their friendship, support and refusal to judge each other and the lives they lead. It’s in navigating the fine balance between an acceptance – if abhorrence – of the political reality and the desire for change to it that makes Levante such a potent film, and a spirited rally cry for inclusion over intolerance.

– Ian Haydn Smith