Skip to main content
Unlikely Allies film image; three men stand in front of step and repeat to have their photo taken

Unlikely Allies

Insights

This event has passed

International Premiere

Anthony Pedone’s film documents an extraordinary response to an appalling American injustice. In 2004, up-and-coming music entrepreneur Weldon Angelos was sentenced to 55 years in federal prison. His crime? Three marijuana sales, totalling $350, to an informer. Angelos’s case became a cause célèbre, attracting rare cross-partisan support: not only did the judge and prosecutor call for his release, but so did powerful conservatives such as Charles Koch. With help from his music industry associates, including Snoop Dogg, Angelos fought long and hard for his freedom, which was only granted after more than a decade.

Taking us from Angelos’s hardscrabble youth in Utah to his music career in California, Pedone creates a touching personal portrait that complements the political message and infuses it with urgency. It’s not every day that hardcore American conservatives join forces with hip-hoppers, and part of the satisfaction of the film is in seeing people reach across a huge political divide. Passionate, uplifting, and incisive, Unlikely Allies is that rarest of things: a good-news story about contemporary America.

 

Media Partner

Community Partner

Director
Featuring

Weldon Angelos, Hollis, Nepolea, Lisa Angelos, Snoop Dogg, Charels Koch

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2023

Language

English

Film Contact
18+
95 min
Black Cinema Documentary Human Rights & Social Justice
Content Cartel, Film Exchange

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Bo Bennett, Marc Levin, Kevin Garnett, Michael Hollis Goldstein, Weldon Angelos

Producer

Mike Marangu, Hollis Goldstein, Anthony Pedone, Patrick McManamee

Screenwriter

Anthony Pedone, Max Blecker

Cinematography

Jake Bayless, Ellington Tynes

Editor

Hee-Jae Park, Anthony Pedone, Max Blecker

Original Music

Michael Hollis Goldstein

Anthony Pedone headshot; Unlikely Allies director

Anthony Pedone

Anthony Pedone is an independent filmmaker who dedicates his time to creating content that cultivates inclusion, community building, and collaboration. His work has premiered at Sundance, Tribeca, Slamdance, and Locarno, and can be streamed on Max, Amazon, Hulu, and Peacock.

Filmography: The Why (2009); Camp Casserole (2011); An American in Texas (2017)

Photo by Daniel B. Levin

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World

Dir. Sasha Waters
91 min

Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Late Fame

Dir. Kent Jones
96 min

Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler (Eyes Wide Shut) this is a sly, poignant comedy about vanity and art from director Kent Jones, starring Willem Dafoe as a mailman belatedly acclaimed for a book of poetry he wrote in his youth.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

American Doctor

Dir. Poh Si Teng
93 min

One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Filipiñana

Dir. Rafael Manuel
100 min

A luxury golf course in the Philippines is the microcosm for Rafel Manuel's vastly assured feature debut, a striking composed comedy which mixes languid surrealism with pointed political satire.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

How to Divorce During the War

Dir. Andrius Blazevicius
108 min

Screenwriter Vytus is left reeling when on successive days his wife demands a divorce and Russia invades Ukraine. Blazevicius' masterful feature emerges as an engrossing satire about virtue signaling, nationalism, good intentions, and survival modes.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Kindergarten

Dir. Jean-François Caissy
84 min

In this charming Quebecois documentary, we are invited to look closely at the interactions of children between the ages of 1 and 5, a period in which they are just beginning to learn about social interactions. And yet how much they resemble ourselves!

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre