After directing Querô with a cast of young non-actors from the coastal city of Santos, Brazilian director Carlos Cortez helped found Instituto Querô, “using audiovisual material as a tool to stimulate talent and broaden professional horizons” for at-risk teens, supported by UNICEF.

SÓCRATES, produced by the institute and premiering tonight at the LA Film Festival, is the feature debut of Alex Moratto. Taking a page from Jean Genet, Moratto’s poem of a film closely follows the title character—a 15-year old youth, orphaned and broke—as he hustles for survival and finds first love on the streets and port of Santos.

As Sócrates, Christian Malheiros beautifully captures a boy moving through the end of innocence, before the streets and the years take their toll.

 

SÓCRATES, Friday, September 21, at 7 pm.

Arclight Culver City, 9500 Culver Boulevard, Culver City.

Above: Tales Ordakji (left) and Christian Malheiros in Sócrates.

Below: Malheiros and Ordakji. Image credit: Instituto Querô.