Festival Films A-Z

The Mochary Group
Matt Mochary, Jeff Zimbalist
115 W 29th St, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
Tel.: +1 646 47 30 010
Fax: +1 646 60 78 732
E-Mail: matt@mochary.com
Internet: www.mochary.com

Jeff Zimbalist, Matt Mochary, Kelly Mark Green

Jeff Zimbalist

Sound Designer:
Mike Furjanic

Lumina Films
Nina Kolokouri
1A Adpar Street
London W2 1DE Großbritannien
Tel.: +44 20 75 35 67 14
Fax: +44 20 75 63 72 83
E-Mail: sales@lumina-films.com
Internet: www.lumina-films.com

Synopsis

Favela Rising documents a man and a movement, a divided city and a united favela (a Brazilian shantytown). Haunted by the murders of his family members and many of his friends, Anderson Sá is a former drug-trafficker-turned-revolutionary in Rio de Janeiro's most feared slum. Using hip-hop, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance, he rallies his community to wage war against the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug gangs and sustained by corrupt police. At the dawn of liberation, just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson's grassroots AfroReggae movement is at the height of its success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever...

Using remarkable imagery and sounds, and quick, rhythmic cuts, the American directors Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary deliberately cite the exceptional style of films such as City of Gods. Thus, they demonstrate that documentaries can be as hip and fascinating as mainstream cinema.

Favela Rising was born at the crossroads of filmmaking and social work. Zimbalist and Mochary had heard of Sá's AfroReggae project, went to see him, and became friends. Over the years, they kept returning to the favela Vigário Geral.

The two Americans taught some of the youths from AfroReggae and a group called Nos do Cinema how to shoot with some of their DV equipment and would sometimes leave cameras with the children when they returned to New York. The idea was to encourage self-representation, to empower the youth using the same inside-out model of development preached and practiced by the AfroReggae movement itself. What resulted was a unique insight into some of the more violent episodes of the favela and some of the most visceral and authentic scenes of the film.

Director Jeff Zimbalist on Favela Rising: The film "is the story of a community that works. The success of the film should be judged on how well it serves to activate its viewers; how well it inspires action."

The fact that the film is also visually and musically brilliant has made it an audience favourite at various festivals, and has earned it numerous awards.

Dates

02	01.10.2007	19:30	Filmhaus
95	09.10.2007	21:30	Festsaal