Brazil

FAVELA RISING documents a man and a movement, a city divided and a favela (Brazilian squatter settlement) united. Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker who turns social revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum. Through hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance he rallies his community to counteract the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.

Brazil is known for its beautiful beaches, lush rain forests, and vibrant culture. However, in recent years, the country has developed more of a reputation for corrupt politicians, kidnapping, and plastic surgery. Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) artfully connects these seemingly disparate elements and conducts a dazzling, yet harrowing, examination of the tragic domino effect that has reshaped the face of the country and created an entire industry built on corruption.

Cláudia is the oldest and most respected inmate at Madre Pelletier Penitentiary. The one who gives the orders and who protects. She protects young Daniela, for example, whose life is at risk because she is accused of having killed her own child. But Cláudia, like Betânia, is to leave the prison soon. O Cárcere e a Rua wanders between the cells at Madre Pelletier women’s penitentiary in Porto Alegre and the streets of the capital of Rio Grande do Sul state. Bars and freedom, women and crime, recovery and recurrence - this is what director Liliana Sulzbach tries to talk about.

Quilombo Country,  a documentary film shot in digital video, provides a portrait of rural communities in Brazil that were either founded by runaway slaves or began from abandoned plantations. This type of community is known as a quilombo, from an Angolan word that means "encampment." As many as 2,000 quilombos exist today.