Favela Rising Movie Review:


There's a raw, edgy power to this documentary, which takes a distinctly positive approach to a difficult situation. It's about young people in one of Rio's worst slums who are changing their world for the better.

At the centre is Anderson Sá, who after a tragic experience as a teen asked himself what he could do to end the violence in his Vigário Geral favela, where children join drug gangs and rarely live to age 30. His instrument of change is music, and he formed the group AfroReggae to harness and focus hope and community pride. These are young people who don't want to run away from the situation; they face it head-on with the goal of making things better.

It's a remarkable story, made even more amazing by the things filmmakers Zimbalist and Mochary witness along the way, from personal reactions to various events to catching some shocking things on film. Over the course of production, they often gave cameras to the kids, and the footage vividly reveals the culture of guns and murder in a place that often resembles a war zone, even though Copacabana Beach is just over the hill.

The filmmakers edit the material with style and emotion--combining some slick, colour-drenched footage with much rougher home-video quality images and intimate interviews. Along the way they trace the history of Vigário Geral, the revenge killings and horrific massacres, the thuggish, heavy-handed police presence. This film is intriguingly similar to David LaChapelle's Rize, about youth turning their physicality to something positive--sweaty, artistic and bursting with energy. AfroReggae's performances are extremely tough, but also emotive, vigorous and rhythmic--a fusion of rap, reggae and soul, along with dance, theatre and capoeira.

It's not very easy to identify with these people and their situations; the filmmakers keep the story specific, and rarely touch on universal issues. But this is a compelling look at one of the world's most difficult places, insightfully profiling a born leader who's brave and unflinching in his insistence that his own people must give respect to each other, to show the world that they can create music and art, not just death.



Rich Cline

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