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Favela Rising (2006) - "I think God writes in crude penmanship: I go up to a guy with his gun out and tell him to change his life." - JB
Spilling across the foothills and down to the edge of the city of Rio de Janeiro, a patchwork of shanty towns known as favelas are host to an incestuous relationship between the drug cartels, kids, and the police. The cartel is the only hope for a kid. They dream of working for the drug lords where they will have the food, money, weapons and status. Sooner or later, they die because of it. The police, underpaid and under-trained, work their protection rackets collecting their drug ransoms until there's an upset of some sort, like a dead cop. Then, the paramilitary police arrive in large numbers to battle the well-armed drug army, catching many innocents in the cross-fire.
In the middle of all of this, a young man, Anderson Sa, has an idea. With a little help, he establishes a percussion band and writes hip-hop lyrics to go with a reggae beat. His message is simple - a better life. A small group of kids emerge who follow Anderson down a path to art instead of drugs.
Anderson's favela is the most notorious of the over 600 favela "territories" splashed up against the hills of Rio, but soon Vigario becomes the sight of a remarkable cultural movement. Before long, Anderson's movement, known as Afro Reggae, is a phenomenon that is as startling in its simplicity as it is in its daring.
A good follow-up to City of God - Favela Rising is a documentary so please don't expect anything as compelling as City, but if you found yourself interested in the plight of Rio's impoverished, you'll find this film enlightening.
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