Synopsis
In a small agricultural town in the Florida Everglades, hopes for the future are concentrated on the youth. Four teens face heartbreak and celebrate in the rituals of an extraordinary senior year.
2019 Directed by Patrick Bresnan, Ivete Lucas
In a small agricultural town in the Florida Everglades, hopes for the future are concentrated on the youth. Four teens face heartbreak and celebrate in the rituals of an extraordinary senior year.
my goodness this is so good. so raw and charming. feels rare to get something as honest and unfiltered as this that still manages to hold your attention. i see some people bashing it for not having the typical documentary tropes like voiceovers or talking heads but honestly that's probably my favorite part about it.
☆"Don't get too happy."☆
Sundance Grand Jury nominee and festival hit of 2019 and early 2020 Pahokee is a very good cinéma vérité look at one South Florida high school in a poor Everglades town, focused on four teens at a football-crazy institution with a majority-minority population. The passionately objective filming of Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas will invite comparisons to Frederick Wiseman, and for good reason, as this is a slice of America he would have captured himself.
Thanks to the PBS sister station World Channel and its series America Reframed, this acclaimed film is online for free at this link for a limited time. It's available thanks to your financial support, so please donate to your local public…
The most interesting things in film right now are happening in indie documentaries and this movie is a great example.
when a film is just warm and tender and looks beautiful and you don’t really have any jokes for this space
A charming little pseudo-documentary that takes place over a school year at a high school in Pahokee, Florida. Although there is no overarching narrative or “main characters,” the film focuses most on four seniors, and the struggles each go through in their respective lives. It feels very down to earth and genuine, and it’ll have you rooting for the success of every student in the school by the end.
During the graduation ceremony, I almost instinctively clapped after the speech along with the crowd in the film. I was that absorbed. That’s impressive.
My favorite so far. Through seemingly just typical high schoolers doing typical high school things. But that’s the point. Humanizing one of the poorest cities in Florida without going into poverty porn. I loved it.
firstly, this deserves way more Letterboxd Love.
secondly, the quality of indie documentaries in recent years is so impressive.
thirdly, American football is a st00pid sport.
finally, and i cannot stress this enough, the American high school experience is WHACK.
This reminded me so much (perhaps too much) of where/how I grew up.
It's a very great documentary.
I missed it at CINEMA UNBOUND last year because it was cancelled halfway through due to covid. I'm glad it's on Kanopy!
beautifully restrained film making
but digesting the world (on a good day) that these kids are stepping into is maddening
if there’s something american that’s worth saving, its character like that on display here. also, fuck that bitch from harvard