Pahokee
The powerful portrait of a living and forgotten America
From the Sundance Film Festival, a complex work of social realism of the new American cinema: Pahokee is a powerful portrait of a small rural town in the Florida Everglades. A close-knit community fighting financial insecurity and a bleak future. The camera pays attention to detail, thanks also to a hyper realistic photography, capturing the daily life of the city with a wealth of nuanced detail. From beauty contests to school and sports events, Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan represent gender and identity ideas through social and collective rituals. Pahokee is direct heir of the Wiseman documentary tradition.
Maria Cera
About the Directors
Ivete Lucas is a director, producer, and editor based in Austin, Texas. She was born in Brazil and grew up in Mexico. For the past 10 years, she has been making video art and co-directing observational documentaries with her partner Patrick Bresnan. Their latest short film SKIP DAY won the Short Film Prize at the Directors Fortnight at Cannes. The Rabbit Hunt, their previous film, won over 20 festival prizes and the Cinema Eye Honor. Pahokee is her first feature-length film and will premiere at Sundance.
Patrick Bresnan is a visual artist and filmmaker who holds a Masters Degree in Sustainability from the University of Texas at Austin. After a formative period working for prominent Mission School artists Barry McGee (aka Twist) and Clare Rojas, he co-directed the short documentary The Send Off (2016) with his partner Ivete Lucas. His short, The Rabbit Hunt, world-premiered at Sundance in 2017 before competing at the Berlinale, and has won over 20 awards including The Cinema Eye Honor. In 2017, he and Lucas directed the short Roadside Attraction which premiered at TIFF. He is currently developing a new film in the Florida panhandle.
