Chop Shop (film)
| Chop Shop | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Ramin Bahrani |
| Produced by | Jeb Brody Lisa Muskat Marc Turtletaub |
| Written by | Bahareh Azimi Ramin Bahrani |
| Starring | Alejandro Polanco Isamar Gonzales Rob Sowulski Carlos Zapata Ahmad Razvi |
| Music by | M. Lo |
| Cinematography | Michael Simmonds |
| Edited by | Ramin Bahrani |
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Production
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| Distributed by |
Axiom Films (UK and Ireland) Koch-Lorber Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $221,227 |
Chop Shop is a 2007 American drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film tells the story of a twelve-year-old street orphan living and working in Willets Point, an area in Queens, New York filled with automobile repair shops, scrapyards and garbage dumps.
Chop Shop premiered at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival.
Chop Shop tells the story of Alejandro "Ale" (Alejandro Polanco), a 12-year-old Latino street orphan from Queens, New York. The film opens with Ale waiting by a roadside with several other men for work. A man in pickup truck arrives looking for two workers. He tells Ale that he is not needed but Ale jumps into the back of the truck anyway. After realizing that Ale is in the back, he stops the truck and sends Ale on his way with some money for breakfast. Ale spends rest of the day selling chocolate and candy to passengers on trains with his friend Carlos (Carlos Zapata). After they finish selling the candy, Carlos informs Ale that Rob (Rob Sowulski), the owner of an auto repair shop in Willets Point, is looking for new workers.
Ale soon begins working at the repair shop, which Rob has also allowed him to live in. He is soon joined by his sister Isamar ("Izzy", played by Isamar Gonzales) who he finds work for in a food van that sells food to workers on the street. Ale later finds a van being sold by Carlos' uncle that he believes he can fix up and turn into his and Izzy's own food van business. The two begin saving their money to buy the $4,500 van. One night, Ale and Carlos go to the nearby truck stop to see the prostitutes working. There they discover that Isamar is working as a prostitute. Ale is disheartened by the fact but does not confront Isamar about it. The two continue working and saving their money up for the van. Ale makes additional money by selling unlicensed DVDs, selling hubcaps he steals from cars parked at the nearby stadium, and working for another auto shop owner, Ahmad (Ahmad Razvi) by stripping down a stolen car.
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