Socrates, a film produced by Professor Ramin Bahrani, won the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Award in the category “Someone to Watch.” The film also earned nominations for Best Male Lead and the John Casavettes award given to the best feature made for under $500,000.
On its long journey through the festival circuit, Socrates has received many other awards and was even shortlisted to be Brazil's official entry for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. Following its theatrical release last month, Socrates is now available to stream on Amazon, iTunes and Google Play. It was acquired for North American distribution by Breaking Glass Pictures.
The film tells the story of a 15-year-old living on the margins of São Paulo’s coast dealing with his mother’s death as he faces isolation because of his sexuality. Socrates is the debut feature film from 29-year-old Brazilian-American filmmaker Alexandre Moratto and is the first feature produced by the Querô Institute in Brazil where it was co-written, produced, and acted by at-risk teenagers from local low-income communities, with the support of UNICEF.
Writer/director Ramin Bahrani’s films have screened at the Venice, Cannes, Sundance, Berlin and Toronto Film Festivals. Bahrani has won numerous awards including the FIPRESCI critic’s prize for best film in Venice (Goodbye Solo, 2009) and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among many others. In 2010 legendary film critic Roger Ebert proclaimed Bahrani as “the director of the decade.” His film 99 Homes stars Andrew Garfield, Michael Shannon and Laura Dern and premiered at The Venice, Telluride, Toronto and Sundance Film Festivals, and was nominated for a Golden Globe. His film Fahrenheit 451 was released by HBO Films in May 2018 and stars Michael B. Jordan, Michael Shannon and Sofia Boutella. He recently directed the pilot episode of the new show Treadstone, which he also executive-produced, set to premiere on USA Network on October 15, 2019
