Alexandre Moratto (USA/Brazil)

Alexandre Moratto is a Brazilian-American filmmaker. Born to a Brazilian mother and an American father, he was raised in the United States by his mother in a single-parent household where Portuguese was the primary language. After working as the assistant to filmmaker Ramin Bahrani (The White Tiger), he returned to Brazil and partnered with UNICEF to make his debut feature film, Sócrates, with a cast and crew of teenagers from São Paulo’s low-income communities who co-wrote and co-produced the film with him. It was met with international critical acclaim and became shortlisted for Brazil’s official entry for the Academy Awards—Oscars®. Alexandre is a Guggenheim, SFFILM, and Film Independent fellow.

Ale and the Boxer Ale, a Brazilian-American, falls on hard times when his mother is diagnosed with cancer. To help support her, he takes a job in a working-class Latinx nightclub where he meets Samuel, a Venezuelan-American boxer and the club’s bouncer. As they form a powerful bond over shared trauma, their intense relationship shatters personal boundaries.