FNC 2015 | GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER

Original version in English (GOD LOVES THE FIGHTER)
Subtitled in English
DIRECTED BY DAMIAN MARCANO
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO | 104 MINUTES | 2014

Young Charlie is struggling to survive in the mean streets of Port of Spain, Trinidad. After exhausting the last of his resources, one night he must decide what direction his life will take when he meets a young prostitute in trouble. Nervous, raw, energetic, colourful, excitedly edited, backed by a dizzying soca soundtrack: in its exploration of urban violence, God Loves the Fighter recalls the shock of Cidade de Deus (City of God). With this first feature, Damian Marcano wanted to take an insider’s look at the seething neighbourhoods where he grew up, putting the viewer in the skin of the tough residents who, despite enduring daily miseries, also see beauty in life. With the violence and rage come true street poetry and urban culture, in the form of our homeless narrator, a kind of modern prophet that no one will listen to, who knows every little secret the city holds and has a gift for words. In the end, God Loves the Fighter is a moral and political fable that challenges our prejudices and expectations, as well as the ways in which a social environment shapes a person.

SCREENPLAY
Alexa Bailey, Damian Marcano
CAST
Darren Cheewah, Zion Henry, Simon Junior John, Albert Laveau, Lou Lyons, Muhammad Muwakil