This documentary follows one man's efforts to better his own life and the community he calls home. Anderson Sa grew up in the ghettos of Rio de Janeiro (known locally as "favelas"), where drug dealing, gangs, corrupt police officials, and violence were a common part of daily life. However, Sa came to realize that the life he was living was a dead end, and gave up selling drugs and gang life to become a community activist. Sa also had musical talent, as did a handful of like-minded friends, and
together they began fusing the energy and immediacy of hip-hop with the hypnotic grooves of reggae, creating a new sound called afro-reggae in the process. Favela Rising follows Sa and his comrades as they share the story of his violent past, his vision of a better future for the favelas of Brazil, and the crucial message behind their music. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Like City of God and Bus 174 before it, Favela Rising is about as raw as it comes. This is not an apologetic film, but rather one that looks for the bright side in a bleak situation.
[The directors] junk up the telling of Sa's story with overworked editing, unnecessary graphic clutter and a confounding habit of using dubbed-over music on the live concert footage.
Elevated by fantastic performance footage of Sa and his young protégés singing, dancing and rhythmically banging on cans, plastic bottles or anything else that can be fashioned into a drum -- and a cultural revolution.
As a piece of documentary filmmaking, it's more a matter of excellent intentions than effective technique--a potentially powerful short doc stretched into a theatre length yawner.
Using a visual style of oversaturated colors that seem to leap off the screen, Mochary and Zimbalist offer an unforgettable portrait of the favelas, where young men openly polish their machine guns and a bullet-riddled body may lie around any corner.
You couldn't find a setting that's more hopeless than the crime-ridden slums of Rio de Janeiro, and yet Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Mochary tell a story that's unabashedly uplifting as well as emotionally raw.
Matt Mochary and Jeff Zimbalist's documentary traces the history of Grupo Afro-Reggae, a community-based action group that arose in Vigario Geral, one of the notorious favelas (slums) that ring Rio de Janeiro.
An uplifting story that's well worth telling, but the directors rather lose sight of the wider sociological ramifications to iconise a figurehead whose courage is couched in almost miraculous terms.
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