Favela Government

An Invisible Victim: The Eliza Samudio Case

September 2024 •Portuguese

A star goalkeeper threatens a woman who is pregnant with his child. Her pleas for help go unanswered in the shadow of his fame — then tragedy strikes.

The Pig and the Society

January 2026 •Portuguese

"The Pig and the Society," symbolizes the stark contrast between the excesses of wealth and the plight of those left behind. It invites viewers to reflect on their perceptions and prejudices, challenging them to see beyond the surface and understand the systemic issues perpetuating homelessness.

Antes do livro didático, o cocar

August 2022 •Portuguese

Mariner of the Mountains

September 2023 •French

Filmmaker Karim Aïnouz decides to take a boat, cross the Mediterranean, and embark on his first journey to Algeria. Accompanied by the memory of his mother, Iracema, and his camera, Aïnouz gives a detailed account of the journey to his father’s homeland, interweaving present, past, and future.

Favela on Blast

January 2008 •English

For 20 years, a subculture has emerged in Brazil under society's radar. It is the culture surrounding 'funk carioca', a musical rhythm which mixes the American electronic funk of the 1980s with the most diverse influences of Brazilian music. 'Baile funk' is one of the most interesting musical movements in the world, but it comes from what is at times one of the most violent and poorest places in the world: the slums of Rio de Janeiro (favelas). This music is the personalization of the raw element. Bombastic rhythms coming from the American Miami Bass and samples are fused with powerful rap vocals using Brazilian slang. This documentary tells stories of sex, love, poverty, and pride among Rio's marginalized people. They have their own language, style, and heroes. It's a film that's fast, heavy, and violent like the city itself.

Piripkura

March 2018 •Portuguese

The last two surviving members of the Piripkura people, a nomadic tribe in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, struggle to maintain their indigenous way of life amidst the region's massive deforestation. Living deep in the rainforest, Pakyî and Tamandua live off the land relying on a machete, an ax, and a torch lit in 1998.

Match 64: The Maracanã

June 2015 •English

A documentary following the day life of fans in Brazil on July 13, 2014: the day when Germany and Argentina met up in the finals of FIFA World Cup.

Belov: A Life at Sea

July 2024 •Portuguese

The first biographical documentary film about the greatest Brazilian sailor by miles traveled. Setting sail from Salvador - Bahia - Brazil, Capital of the Blue Amazon, the Ukrainian Brazilian personality Aleixo Belov has already circumnavigated the globe five times, three of them alone, aboard a little sailboat built in his own backyard.

Mirabal: Um Foco de Resistência

March 2022 •Portuguese

Jonas and the Backyard Circus

November 2015 •Portuguese

Jonas is 13 years old and his life's dream is to maintain the circus that he created in his backyard. While he faces this challenge, he will live the adventure of growing up.

In Deep With Ryan Lochte

July 2020 •English

Four years after Ryan Lochte's scandal at the 2016 Olympics, the father of two tries once more to make his way onto the U.S. Olympic team and prove he isn't the same man he once was.

The Hearing

May 2023 •French

After crossing 11 countries irregularly to seek asylum in Canada, Peggy, Simon and their three children are waiting for the hearing that will determine whether they get refugee status or not. Having fled political repression in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the family tries to rebuild a peaceful life in Montreal, in spite of the constant threat of deportation. Between ghosts from the past, hopes for the future, a complex legal maze and seemingly endless trial, the film delves into the struggle of the Nkunga Mbala family to remain in Canada. Offering unprecedented access to their hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board, the film unveils the opaque process of claiming asylum in Canada.

Moment of Contact

October 2022 •English

An exploration of potential extraterrestrial encounters centered on a series of events in Varginha, Brazil during 1996. Residents reported seeing one or more strange creatures and a UFO crash.

The Bowmakers

September 2019 •English

This documentary film explores the world of the bow and the extraordinary masters who make them. The bow is the Cinderella of the orchestra—the overworked and overshadowed ally to its more glamorous partners. Few people, even among lovers of classical music, think of the bow as an instrument in its own right, but players of stringed instruments see them differently. To musicians, the bow is as essential to expressing the soul of the music as the violin or cello. The film follows the journey of the “silent servant” of the music world—from the workshops of the virtuosos of the trade, to the birthplace of the bow in France, and to Brazil, home to the imperiled tree from which the world’s finest bows are made.

Milton Santos, Pensador do Brasil

January 2001 •Portuguese

The interview, held on January 4, 2001, was the last given by Professor Milton Santos, who died from cancer on June 24 of the same year. The geographer is gone, but his thoughts remains. Its political and cultural ideals inspire the debate on Brazilian society and the construction of a new world. His statement is a true testimony, a lesson that the world can be better. Based on geography, Milton Santos performs a reading of the contemporary world that reveals the different faces of the phenomenon of globalization. It is in the evidence of contradictions and paradoxes that constitute everyday life that Milton Santos sees the possibilities of building another reality. He innovates when, instead of standing against globalization, proposes and points out ways for another globalization.

The Case of the Wrong Man

May 2017 •Portuguese

The documentary tells the story of Júlio César, a young Afro-Brazilian who was executed by the Police in the 1980s in Porto Alegre. The crime became notorious when the press published photos of Julius being put alive in the police car and arriving 37 minutes later shot and dead at the hospital.

Complexo: Parallel Universe

January 2011 •Portuguese

No Rio de Janeiro, a 13 km do Cristo Redentor, dois portugueses aventuraram-se na mais temida favela do Brasil, onde moram mais de 300.000 pessoas - o Complexo do Alemão. Em 2007, no período de maior tensão e violência no Rio de Janeiro, viveram a maior operação policial já realizada no estado, sentiram na pele como é a vida de um simples morador. O filme retrata este perigoso e complexo mundo, um universo paralelo inserido dentro de uma ordem maior, um mundo à parte, que segue uma ordem diferente da ordem global.

Grafite é do Morro

February 2023 •Portuguese

The Other Side of the Postcard

December 2016 •Portuguese

The Favela Pacification Program was launched in 2008 to reduce crime and drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In April 2015 however, police shot and killed 10-year old Eduardo in Complexo do Alemão, causing uproar in that community. Alemão and other pacified communities began to realise that the program had become the very thing it was designed to destroy. Taking place in the build to the 2016 Olympic Games, this is the side of Rio that you have never seen before.

Chega de Demanda

January 1973 •Portuguese

Documentary addressing the composer Cartola and the transformations that took place in Morro Carioca and in Samba during his life. Founder of the Escola de Samba Estação Primeira de Mangueira, Cartola has his life and his music marked by his community and his School, far from the city His school, created as a playful and expressive center for the mangueirense, has now become a point of tourist attraction. This made work possible for the inhabitants of the hill, but it transformed the spirit of samba and its aesthetics.