Volunteer of the Month

If you run, the beast catches you. If you stay, the beast eats you. The second Volunteer Of The Month pick for August comes courtesy of Angel, who has chosen Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund's 2002 masterpiece City of God!  In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime. Few films burst onto the world cinema stage with the raw power of City of God. This electric crime epic remains one of the defining films of the 21st century, backing up its "masterpiece" designation with pure adrenaline and style.

Our first Volunteer of the Month pick for the month of August comes courtesy of Dorene, who has chosen to spotlight Pier Paolo Pasolini's Mamma Roma! Anna Magnani is Mamma Roma, a middle-aged sex worker who attempts to extricate herself from her sordid past for the sake of her son. Filmed in the great tradition of Italian neorealism, the film offers an unflinching look at the struggle for survival in postwar Italy, and highlights director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s lifelong fascination with the marginalized and dispossessed. Though banned upon its release in Italy for obscenity, today Mamma Roma remains a classic, featuring a powerhouse performance by one of cinema’s greatest actresses and offering a glimpse at a country’s most controversial director in the process of finding his style.