SYNOPSIS.
Alejandro 'Ale' Villacano is a young associate lawyer who has landed a job at the prestigious law firm, Keefe Briar. He is an unlikely pick for the firm. Even though he was top of his class, he is a former convict and an acquitted felon. Intent on forgetting his past and forging a new identity, Ale dedicates himself to being the top associate at the firm. Thus, he is reluctant to help an old friend. Only at the prodding of his mentor does Ale take the pro bono case. For him, it's filing a few grievances against a local prison and then back to his new life. But for his client, it’s a matter of life and death. No matter how much Ale tries to resist, the pull to do the right thing, to fight the good fight is too strong. Ensnared now in a case of corruption, power and abuse, Ale must decide what kind of lawyer he is really meant to be.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT.
Penitentia is an intensely personal film for me. In June of 2021 I was driving through Kansas to attend my father’s funeral. He had died six months earlier but because of the pandemic we waited for the funeral. I opted not to speak at his service. Not because I didn’t have anything to say. I desperately wanted to share my admiration and affection for him. I just wasn’t ready to publicly display my grief. It was on I-70 outside of Lawrence that I decided I would make a film in his memory, to honor the things he fought for, the clients and causes he dedicated fifty years of his
life as a lawyer to. In that last three hours of the drive a story was created. One about a young man, impacted by injustice and inspired to overcome those obstacles and dedicate himself to fight for the rights of others. The same guiding light that drove my father from the civil rights movement into politics and courtrooms across Kansas drives the character Marvin Weissman in Penitentia and inspires and guides the young attorney, Ale Villacano.
Authenticity is the driving force of my stories. Whether it’s an accurate recreation of the House of Un-American Activities Committees in
Witness 11 or the simple coming-of-age story in Greg’s Going to Rehab, it’s important the audience doesn’t question the logic of the reality I’m presenting on screen. I want them to be engrossed as events unfold, unfettered by doubts of realism in the story. The moments in the film don’t need to be overblown to convey power. The characters are not larger than life. They are cut from the cloth of the fabric of the world around them. The way that I lens the scenes, edit the moments, score the film all come from a naturalistic approach.