LONDON presents BRAZIL

Is Brazilian Cinema synonymous of Slum outside? Well, no more

2009-11-06T18:07:00.003Z

Films like 'City of God' left a bad image outside which falls on slum, violence and misery. But now the situation promises to change.

Two brazilian film festivals recently performed in London brought good prospects for real change. The '1 Cine Fest Brazil London' at Riverside Studios and the '3 Cinema of Brazil' at Barbican Centre showed English audience that there is Brazil beside slum. Both festivals left out of their schedule films that would remind the scenario of trafficking. The decision was the mainly subject talked by famous Brazilian directors and actors who attended the two festivals.

The director of '1 Cine Fest Brazil London' explained the purpose of this decision: "We tried to escape from the slum theme in the selection of films for our schedule because the Brazilian cinema is not just about slum. So much so that it can be seen in the line up of the festival. There's only one movie that shows slum. Our cinema has also great comedies and dramas that need to be shown, "said Adriana Dutra.

The big actress Glória Pires was present at the '1 Cine Fest Brazil London’ and declared: "For anything to exist need to have public and people like variety. There are those who follow the directors, there are those who follow the actors, there are those who go to the movies to suffer their pain and there are those who go to the movies for fun. "

And she remembered what the role of the cinema to a country is: "The cinema is the mirror of any culture. Every culture needs to see your reflection and the Brazilian public miss to hear their stories. We had a fast national cinema and now he comes up with new energy, desire to return and carry on, "said the actress.

In two festivals, about 80% of the audience was English. Many of the sessions were sold out.

"The foreign audience loved the cultural diversity of the brazilian cinema. They are quality films with great creativity. We have a very good product in our hands. Brazilian cinema is a great product, "said Adriana Dutra.

With no doubt, it was time to Brazil no longer be summarized by films like 'City of God'.

"Brazil is very rich in cultural diversity and there are multiple realities. In our festivals, we are concerned in bringing film production that reflects the whole picture of our country. So you can understand the Brazilian drama, which is very diverse, "said Adriana Dutra.

Jorge Furtado that was present at Barbican festival spoke about it after the session of his 'Sanitation, The Movie': "I shoot my own class. I'm middle class and I film stories of the middle class. I think I would not know and not feel free to put me in misery and talk about them. I think this is a role for those who are inside. Just as I think that my fellow rich directors that should shot films about the rich class ".

Furtado, despite being the author of the Brazilian short-denounces that was more respected internationally- "Island of Flowers', which shows miserable children of the south of Brazil taking the rests that pigs did not wanted to eat- he raises the question, after all if resolves something to make film about poverty:

"I think there are issues that cinema can not solve. And an example of problem that cinema does not solve is the problem of basic sanitation. To achieve the resolution of those problems you have to get involved with politics”.

However, despite the support to the new course that brazilian cinema follows now, directors say it’s not doubtful the value of films that talk about slums, as it’s part of our reality.

"The cinema has to portray the reality of a country. The United States talks about terrorism as it’s part of their reality, and we speak of the slums, which are part of our reality, "said Adriana Dutra.

"It's complicated, because poverty is something so prevailing in Brazil, that if you will make a movie where there is misery this will be the main issue," said Jorge Furtado.

José Eduardo Belmonte, director who had his film "If nothing else works out ' screened at ‘Cinema of Brazil' said: "The cinema not only the Brazilian one, has the function of to shed light where we do not perceive. It’s through the cinema that we share our perplexity with the world."

There is a real problem for the Brazilian cinema not only in England but throughout the developed world. The great festivals know what the audience expects of Brazilian cinema. Then the first world tends to see only films about slum. In these brazilian festivals the English public had the opportunity to see different issues and actors in Brazilian cinema.

The director Bruno Barreto, who was present at the ‘1 Cine Fest Brazil London’ said about it:

"There is one thing I have to say about these brazilian festivals: They show what the traditional festivals- you know, Venice and Cannes, just to name a few- do not show. They show Brazilian films that the foreign public would never see in any other festival. These festivals are doing a wonderful job for the Brazilian film industry. "

Fact is that is a frustration when Brazilian cinema is summed up in slums. Thanks to these festivals opens a door for Brazilian cinema begins to be seen by other angles outside. "We believe that the festival in London will be a watershed," celebrate Adriana Dutra.

Orquestra Imperial

2009-07-07T13:16:00.001+01:00

This sunday, 12 July, London will have the unique chance to experiment what is of best in Brazilian music. Orquestra Imperial is formed by 17 experienced and recognized Brazilian musicians betweten them Moreno Veloso, son of the big Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso, Nelson Jacobina, one of the most influential musicians of Brazilian Popular Music, Rodrigo Amarante, ex singer of the successfull Brazilian indie group Los Hermanos (recently dissolved), Thalma de Freitas, singer who is actress as well and daughter of the musician Laércio das Neves and other big names.

Described by many as retro-samba, the group bring it's melodies from the source and promises not to disappoint since is formed by so respectable musicians. Last year in their's European tour they made the audience very happy and dancy in Denmark and Spain festivals, what is a good reference and garantee that the show is what it promisses to be and more.

*You can buy your tickets at www.koko.uk.com for £17,00.

You can listen to the band on http://www.myspace.com/orquestraimperial.

A perfil of Brazilian director Jose Padilha

2009-06-29T00:41:00.011+01:00

"José Padilha congregate some qualities which combination is rare. The mature seriously and the monastic devotion, obsessive, to his projects are associated the joviality of do what gives pleasure and the transgressor daring. His detachment almost Franciscan is mixed to the spontaneous feeling of responsibility for everything what is around"

declared to “Epoca” magazine by Luiz Eduardo Soares, secretary of Prevention of Violence of Nova Iguaçu, Rio de Janeiro, ex-national secretary of Public Security and co-author of Elite Squad, inspired book of Padilha movie.

Padilha is the Brazilian director that is gaining more and more international recognition. He was indicated in various international festivals, which won in 2003 the Emerging Artist Award in the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival with the movie “Bus 174” and in 2008 the Golden Berlin Bear in the Berlin International Film Festival with the movie “Elite Squad”. This year, his new movie Garapa was selected by various festivals inclusive the pioneer Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The problems of crime and it’s endemic nature in Rio, particularly in relation to police corruption and middle-class indifference are the preferable themes of the author who documented them very well in the movies Bus 174, which details a hijack that turned into a media circus and Elite Squad, fictional look at BOPE (aggressive law enforcement Brazilian agency). A characteristic of Padilha is to show the problems from the point of view of a character that lives that problem. His movies are normally made of complex drama structures where he position the audience in the character point of view.

Bus 174 is a documentary recounting the events of June 12, 2000 in Rio de Janeiro when several people fell victim to the hijacking of a bus. The movie is focused in the hijacker, Sandro do Nascimento, that was one of the city's drug-dependent street kids of Rio. The plot presents all the factors of his life that explains why his personality is so violent, while presenting he alive hijacking the bus. He had been living rough since the age of six, when he'd seen his mother stabbed before his eyes. After that, he survived the horrors of Brazil's jails and the butchering of his friends at the hands of the police. This way, the director cause proximity and compassion from audience to the hijacker.

Elite Squad charts the story of the captain of the elite BOPE special operations force, who after years of fighting the war in the favelas is seeking a replacement. With this plot, the movie explains how is shaped the personality of the violent police of Rio and how police justify to themselves their violence. It is impressively made, but leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. To present the reality of violence in Rio, through the perspective of a violent cop, the director did two years of research, interviewed 20 cops and psychiatrists from the police.
“Garapa”is his last movie and was recently exhibited on EIFF 2009. This movie as well comes from the perspective of the main characters, this time with a even more tough subject. It’s a movie about hunger from the perspective of those who face it. With honesty approach, Jose Padilha shot 30 days of what happens in the routine of miserable Brazilian families showing that garapa, a solution of sugar and water, is sadly the only aliment that those mums have to give to theirs toddlers. “I wanted to do a movie that could turn concrete the statistics”, said the director to the Brazilian magazine “Carta Capital”. He explains that one of the functions of the politic engaged dramaturgy is to transform impersonal relations into personal relations. “Did you know someone who pass hunger? Me neither. But with the movie you knew”, concluded him.
Padilha is a director that don‘t say what the public have to think. “I don’t make leaflet”, said him to “Carta Capital”. Instead, he shows what happens and let to the public discuss the problem. It‘s realizable in his movies that he doesn‘t judge his characters. He is not saying ‘I’m against torturing” in Elite Squad. Instead, he shows that torture by police exist and explains why police do it, taking the audience to discuss a solution. Another example is that the director doesn’t judge the Brazilian middle-class for it’s indifference with the poor-class. Instead he understand that this happens because of a gap of personal relation between both classes. “If you see a street kid you don’t take he home. However, if you see the son of a friend in the street you take. This is a fact of the psychology: personal relations generate solidarity”, said him to the magazine. He explain that the fact that the people who pass hunger be not personal known by who can solve the problem is one of the reasons why this problem doesn’t solve.
The director actually graduated first in Business Management by PUC (Pontifical Catholic University) of Rio de Janeiro and just after changed his career direction studying Political Economy, English Literature and International Politics in Oxford, England. He awakened to the social thematic and to the cinema when Marcos Prado, a friend, invited him to shot a documentary about workers in the coal for the ECO 92. Padilha explains that he didn‘t prepared himself for cinema, he just started doing. He says he reads a lot about screenplay and photography, more than watch films.
However, one thing he gives big value is to research before doing a movie since he passed 2 years and a half interviewing police men before doing Elite Squad. To do Garapa, Padilha studied the research “Impact of the Bolsa Família program in the Alimentary and Nutritional Security of the benefit families”, launched recently by Ibase (The Brazilian Institute of Social and Economics Analysis) between more things. So Padilha movies are pure reflection of reality. Unfortunately, this is the Brazil that he have today, but fortunately we have Padilha, a director keen to show things up, bringing discussion and provoking changes.

Edinburgh International Film Festival and "Garapa" from Jose Padilha

2009-06-22T21:40:00.021+01:00

Summer is meaning of festival season in Europe and for who never went to a Festival is difficult to decide where to go. As selections criteria, there’s the practical ones who choose by the price, that in this days of crises fear is for sure a fact to be considered, and there’s the ones who can choose by taste independent of price, that is much more interesting , but is not everybody who is able to afford it.
So goes here a tip that join “the useful to the pleasant”, at least for who loves movies. The Edinburgh International Film Festival is a great option for who want to be updated with the best of world cinema and save with cinema tickets, because in the Festival you can watch series of movies in one same session.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival was born together with the Edinburgh International Festival. Both exist since 1947 and the EIFF was one of the film festival industry pioneers. Considered one of the world festivals more loved by the audience, the event is a key attraction for Edinburgh as well. In the recent years, it has emphasis on discover of new national and international talents brilliantly innovating the movie scene with new directors from the Independent industry.
There is a wide range of movies to be shown and this year the most commented by the English newspapers are “Away we go” from Sam Mendes (director of the award winner “American Beauty“), “Giallo“ with the actor Adrien Brody from “The pianist“, “The girlfriend experience” from the director Steven Soderbergh bringing as an actress a girl that started as a sex star with 16 years old, “Spread“ that brings Ashton Kutcher as a male gigolo, “Boogie Woogie” a smart satire, “Romeo & Juliet Vs The living dead” for the bizarre comic lovers and more. If you just loved the movie “March of the Penguins” you will be anxious to see “The Crimson Wing”. Beside the fact that it’s a kind of copy that disney made, is still a beautiful movie that documents the life cycle of the flamingos in Tanzania.
However, if you are an enthusiastic for English cinema like me go for “A Boy Called Dad” from Brian Percival, promised to cause emotion, “Kicks“ from Lindy Heymman about fanaticalness, “Fish Tank“ from “Red Road“ director Andrea Arnold, “Isolation“ about a quarter of British ex-soldier that are homeless today, “Running in Trafic”, a clever drama by Darle Corlett and “No Greater Love“ from Michael Whyte that allows us inside the Monastery of Notting Hill. There‘s two interesting English movies featuring rock bands: “All Tomorrow Parties” from Jonathan Caouette bringing “Belle and Sebastian” and “Le Donk & Scorz-ayz-ee“, from Shane Meadows, director of “Somer Tows” and “This is England” bringing “The Artic Monkeys”. Beside that “Away we Go“, “Giallo“ and Boogie “Woogie” are English movies as well and, how I said before, are between the ones most expected.
Perhaps, one of the English movies will specially call your attention, mainly if you appreciated “Bale de Rua“ last May in Barbican. “Only When I Dance” from Beadie Finzi is a real story about two gifted, but poor, Brazilians teenagers whose dreams are to dance Ballet. To escape theirs impoverished lives in “Complexo do Alemao“, one of the most violent favelas in Rio, their families will fight for the money needed to keep their children’s dreams alive. The group “Bale de Rua” surged from the similar background and passed by many hard problems as well before being recognized at the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

MUST SEE

“Garapa”, by Brazilian director Jose Padilha, is hard, sad and hurts, mainly if you are a Brazilian. The director, Jose Padilha, achieved the international success with the movies “Bus 174”, drama based on real events about a bus hijacked by a delinquent in Rio and “The Elite Squad”, a semi-fictional account of the Special Police Operations Battalion of Rio de Janeiro that won the Golden Bear at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival. Showing the hunger and poverty of miserable families, the movie explains that garapa is a solution of sugar and water that sadly is the only aliment that some mums have to give to theirs toddler in Brazil.
The director normally do complex drama structures focused in the personal life drama of the main character. In “The Elite Squad” the movie explains how is shaped the personality of a violent police man and how he justify for himself his violence. In “Bus 174”, the movie explains how the personality of a street teenager was shaped, turning him into so violent to the point of go armed assaulting a bus. In the same line, “Garapa” comes from the perspective of the main characters, is a movie about hunger from the perspective of those who face it. With honesty approach, Jose Padilha invite the world to face this tough subject. Interviewed by Tribeca Film Festival in April, the director said that, financially, the movie belongs to the families so, probably, they’ll be benefited from ticket sells, a good incentive to watch.

*Edinburgh International Film Festival goes from 17 to 28 of June

Bale de Rua

2009-06-02T19:41:00.009+01:00

The rhythm is commanded by an exciting demonstration of Brazilian original samba as the dancers declares to the audience: "We want to talk about Brazil" and suddenly you fell like watching the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. But is the traditional Carnival, "is the Brazil that we love".

Born in 1992, in a small city in the middle of Brazil as a project for marginalised young people, Bale de Rua is a presentation of Brazilian culture by an energetic choreography, where music tell history, and now making sucess in Europe.

The spectacle makes references to Brazilian symbols such as tradicional samba dancers, afro-brazilian religions characters and the African slaves. Incredibly, Bale de Rua delivery energy and spontaneity even when speaking about slavery, transforming this sad subject into exciting demonstration of capoeira (a dance created in the slavery times).

Then capoeira is followed by afro dance and street dance; However, the street dance doesn't have a contester hip hop line. Unlike of copy the American style, Bale de Rua shows that regional cultures can make their own interpretation, which is very good. In these days Brazil gives too much value to North-American and European culture and minimize his own.

In the beginning the group had financial difficult, but as good Brazilians, they never assumed the victim role. In fact they showed determination to win the problems. Now, slowly, the group is gaining space in Brazilian media, more than deserved since they are the good represntation of what is Brazilian ballet dance.

*Bale de Rua is at Barbican till 31 May

"400 blows" and "Pixote"

2009-05-24T19:39:00.021+01:00

*Trailer of "Pixote" by Hector Babenco

"400 blows" is a 50 year old French movie, and "Pixote" is a Brazilian movie from the 80's, however when you watch both you see that they speak "the same language". Pixote is the finest Brazilian film ever made about street children in Brazil. 400 blows is one of the defining films of the French New Wave that denounces the treatment of kids in France at the time. And everything match when we see that the essence of the ideas that created the detention houses for children in France wasn't so different from the ideas that created Febem, "State Foundation of the good being of children" in Brazil in 1976.

Directed by rancois Truffaut, one of the defining directors of the French New Wave moviment, the film is a denunciation of the hard and unfair treatment of the juveniles in France in 1959. At that time, teachers tried to solve everything with ignorance and punishment, while families could be cold and bossy with their children. At school children used to be punished, humiliated and even attacked for the smallest incidents, like doing a joke or drawing of the teacher, which escalated into revolt. To punish harshly was already condemned by law, however teachers didn't look worried about it. In the movie, the teenager main character, who actually is very intelligent and good at writing is treated as an ordinary delinquent when caught skipping school classes. In fact, everything could be so different if the educational system of the time wasn't so repressive and blind. And this system was the beginning of everything going wrong since then till now, in the treatment of children.

I would say that in Brazil the problem is worse because beside the ignorance of schools and family treating the kids neglectly, they are still very poor. The kids that go to Febem, the Brazilian detention house for juveniles, are kids that comes always from the streets. They are the kids showed in the movie Pixote. Overpopulated and left whitout care the institution Febem became the famous "school of crime". When street children get there, they have been turned into real and dangerous delinquents. With frequents and aggressive rebellions, where employers of the institution are raped and beds are burned, Febem is very often part of the television news in Brazil. Since 2007, the foundation is being restored. The institution has diminished the number of rebellions from 80 per year to three per year since thn. However, I ask myself if the re-education of this children is being doing properly. Are this "children" being re-educated or just repressed?

I do wish it to work, as the children from 400 blows, the children from Pixote could have developed talents if treated with care. Repression just mask things. But, how things normallyhappen in Brazil, I bet they are just masking things now and letting to next major to fix it later.

Os Mutantes

2009-03-21T17:22:00.018Z

*Os Mutates Documentary Movie Trailer

If you would love to travel to Brazil, but is afraid of get tired of samba all time don’t worry. Brazil loves rock as well, especially in Sao Paulo, the capital, where is incredible increasing the numbers of rock nightclubs and shows of international rock bands. But it's not from today that Brazil have a conection with rock. The brazilian band "Os Mutantes" was born in 1966 in Sao Paulo and that was rock from its best kind. "Os Mutantes Documentary Movie" shows the story of that psychedelic rock pioneers.

Os Mutantes were the first group to have the courage to perform a fusion of traditional Brazilian rhythms with psychedelia at a time when the "MPB" (the Brazilian music establishment) were openly hostile to the wild sounds of American rock 'n roll. However, worse than that was the watchful eyes of the brutally repressive right-wing military dictatorship, that regularly censored not just them but as well the other musical revolutionaries of the time as Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso (who were imprisoned and exiled for their political stance).

Thanks God, today is not more like that and rock is more than welcome in the country. As example there’s a lot of new projects involving rock: “Grito Rock América do Sul”, translating “South America Rock Scream”, that happens in the same season of the traditional Brazilian carnival to divulge and contemplate new regional rock bands. “Festival Indie Rock“, another example that was created last year with the objective of make stronger the Indie music in the country giving opportunities to new bands to be known and bringing internationals bands to the event.

Brazil have being receiving various rock bands from UK in the last years: The Libertines in 2004, White Stripes in 2005, Franz Ferdinand in 2006, Artic Monkeys in 2007, Kaiser Chiefs in 2008 and others. There are already lots of English bands confirmed to play in 2009, as example Radiohead, Keane, James Blunt and we are just in the beginning of the year. Orkut, an online community of Google, show how Brazil is involved with Indie Rock with a group of almost 19,000 Brazilian members Indie Rock lovers. So, don't be afraid to come, Brazil loves samba, but Brazil loves rock as well thanks to Os Mutantes ;)

Linha de Passe

2009-03-15T21:30:00.013Z

* Linha de Passe (by Walter Salles) Trailer

"Linha de Passe" comes as the movie that shows the social disparity of Sao Paulo through poor families stories, being the main storie with a boy aspiring to be a football player। The movie is from Walter Salles, the same director of "The Motorcycle Diaries"and it makes a separation between sensationalists reportings and comedy programmas about Brazil and the reality of our country.

In this times when Brazilian image is distorted and explored all the time in the international media and entreteinment bussiness, Linha de Passe come to show how things really are in Sao Paulo. The reportings in UK tabloids showing poverty, violence, favelas (slums) and anothers problems that Brazil has, most of the time are sensationalists rather than analitics. To make it worse, comedy programmas as "Simpsons" show a Brazil that is still most jungle with selvage animals and tribes, beside the city where turists are stolen all the time and Brazilians don't have too much worries, beside football and samba.

Brazil really has lots of social problems, and media tend to expore it publishing big pictures of pooverty or reporting exotic things like cannibals tribes, but the sensitive and truly way that this movie presents Sao Paulo is rare. Linha de Passe shows a Brazil that is developed in various aspects, with some considerable part of the working class with a diferential power of actviment. However the movie is concentrated in what really happens inside the poor families showing how big is the social contrast between the poor and the high class in Sao paulo.

Beyond Citizen Kane

2009-03-14T12:14:00.006Z

*Beyond Citizen Kane Trailer

To understand Brazilian image we have to analyse Brazilian television. The relation between telly and Brazilians is very strong. Beyond Citizen Kane is a documentary, made by BBC, that explains how the big Brazilian television company "Globo Television" have a direct influence on Brazilians. The documentary since launched was forbiden in Brazil.

TV Globo have approximately 70% of the audience every day in Brazil. Most of Brazilians tends to assume the values showed by Globo for them. They choose what Brazilians will be talking about and which ones will be the worries. They have the “public-making” ability in their hands.

The meanings of what is to be a Brazilian are maintained every year by Brazilian media. Beside that, they reproduce Brazilian image to the world through soup operas and programs. The world absorb it all and spread in various ways, for example, in movies of entertainment and fiction as “Anaconda” and others. In the end, news and fantasy about Brazil are spread in the world and how we see, the Brazilian television have good blame on it.

But after all, what is Brazil for Britain?

I made a search of content about Brazil in the websites of the mainly and most popular tabloids in Britain. How expected, for Britain, the football players are the most popular Brazilians. The focus is as well in poverty and violence. So, by rich countries point of view, Brazil is not important, beside in the football world. Other qualitative characteristics of Brazil frequently presented for the world are the connotations attached to nature, carnival and sexuality what just make it worse.

The attention of the Tabloids indicates the absence of news about the good industries, discovers, musicians, and all kind of good arts and production that exist in Brazil. They just make available for public attention the scary, exotic or sensual. The kind of Brazilian that Tabloids give attention when speaking about Brazil are the carnival woman who accidentally lost her clothes on camera or the football players who made a millionaire contract with a new team. So Brazil is a big party.

Occurrence of news and themes of Brazil and the relative amounts of attention that the press of Britain gives to each theme related to Brazil. The Sun: Approximately 76% of content about Brazil is sport. 11% is violence. 11% is celebrities doing tourism in Brazil. 3% is superficial discuss about Amazonia. The Mirror: Approximately 90% about sport. 5% about violence. 5% about celebrities doing tourism in Brazil. The Daily Mail: Approximately 91% is sport. 4% is economy. 2% is violence. 2% is poverty. 2% is woman in carnival.

Foreign Eye

2009-03-12T13:20:00.012Z

*Trailer of the movie "Foreign Eye"

Some good material have been created to analise where the Brazilian sterotype comes from. Inspired in the book "The Brazil of the foreigners", the documetary "Foreign Eye" by Lucia Murat, shows through interviews with Hollywood directors the American myth of Brazil.

The movie reveal that, in Second World War times, Holywood explored Brazil as a land of exotic beauty, sensuous rythms and glamorous women. Brazil fame is like that since when it was discovered by the Portugueses. The image of huge territory, abundance of selvage life and sensuality never changed, but was thanks to some characters made up by Hollywood that the fame was spread in the world.

Carmen Miranda came up as an icon at this moment. The stereotypes of her movies showed the prejudices in relation to Latin America. The artist actually wasn’t Brazilian, Carmen Miranda was Portuguese and in the movies used to speak Spanish, but this wasn’t a problem to the Americans and Europeans, which still today use to mix languages and capitals of the Latin American countries.

Other icon is Ze Carioca, a creation of Walt Disney which show cariocas, informal way to call who is born in Rio de Janeiro, as a person that with few job and lots of fun take advantage of people. The character prefer stay hours planning some plan to take advantage instead of make some effort. This two characters were divulging a simplistic image of Brazilians.

The image of Brazil by Brazilian movies

*Trailer of "Central of Brazil" by Walter Salles

In the last 15 years, Brazilians movies have been trying to show Brazil in a more real way. “Central of Brazil", award winner of Berlim Festival, and "City of God", selectioned by Cannes Film Festival are two Brazilian movies that show the hard life that poor people in Brazil lives. In this movies the poor and violent Brazil is presented. This Brazilian movies are showing that Brazil really have serious problems with crime and poverty, but they show it invinting the audience to see by Brazilian eyes.

*Black Orpheu trailer

Internationaly Rio de Janeiro City is the place of Carnival. For Holywood, Carnival are crazy days when doesn’t exist nothing beside it in Rio de Janeiro. The party is associated with sexual liberation and crime. But if you watch "Black Orpheu" you will see that Carnival is history and culture. Made in 1959 by French director Marcel Camus the movie show the roots of Carnival.

So Change has come...ins't it?

2008-12-12T02:27:00.000Z

We were overwhelmed in the american election time with images and information from media, growing the impressions and feelings that we had about the candidates as a whole. Much has been said about Obama and I ask myself to what extention had the media made influence on people‘s mind.

It was proposed by media that Obama will change things. Texts, from newspapers from all over the world, contributed for the constant reproduction, and why not, re-installation in the public minds of the understand of Obama how being 'the change'.

Frequently media has an influence on us and affect us in our choises for elections and this way distort the understanding of society by their self by making choises that are not essenciallity the best ones for society.

After all to what extent the press reflected or reproduced a hegemonic ideology in this elections? Does the press intended to have an influence on us? To analyze how coverage of mainstream is done nowadays I took as example the newspapers of London, which done on November 5th 2008 a coverage about Obama victory in the elections and reproduced him as the patria salvation.

Barack Obama is just one new politician who we don’t know how will act after being elected. However, a lot of London newspapers, mainly the free ones, in the day after the American election, made a huge news reflecting the happened and showing him as an American and world hero. ‘Change has come‘, were one of the titles wrote with huge letters in the front page. Beside that, the intern newspapers content showed their self the less analytics possible. In practice, all the pages just made echo towards the ‘truly’ and superficial Obama declarations about his life and his ideas and when don’t doing that they were reproducing his speech pos-victory. Is sure that the good newspapers done something more deep but I’m speaking about the pop ones. Interviews with Obama supporters from his city of origin, Chicago, and from all over the world ,were done to reinforcing the ideology of hero and a photography of supposed Obama’s relatives celebrating his victory in Kenya was published by the newspaper. No critic was done and no important thought about the plans of government was up. The only concern of the newspapers was reproduce the victory of the candidate as being the salvation that all we were waiting for, this mean, construct the hero, mainly sustained in the fact that he is black.

All journalist know that the selection process is central in the production of all reportage. This involve selecting interviews and declarations that might be considered worth of to be include in the material, or following the same logic, to be excluded being considered irrelevant or not worth for the coverage. From the interviews made by the newspapers the majority were with Obama supporters and the rest mentioned Obama declarations on his speech. About the others candidates, few was spoken about and just pictures showing their frustration were published. Actually, the newspapers rose Obama as a hero upon affirmations of selected public, the ones which supported him. This affirmations in big scale spread and consolidate the ideology of Obama as a hero. The true is that some newspaper prefer sensationalism rather than analyse of true and fact, because the priority is sale and sensationalism is saleable.

This is made clear looking the pages about his victory, Obama and family picture waving surrounded by American flags, the picture of the excited and simple people in Kenya, the USA maps showing the difference in graphics of votes in the election between Obama and his contestants titles as ‘Obama changes the map of America in one night’, pictures of Gordon Brown smiling spontaneous by Obama’s side and yet pictures of Obama supporters in Los Angeles, New York and outside the White House, in everywhere! ‘A popular choice across the globe‘ how one of them said. Newspapers gave attention for things like Obama’s particular life showing him when teenager and teacher and also with the family. The others candidates were treated like “losers“ and the pictures showed them with sad faces reflecting failure.

Come on media, it's not the way an american election have to be reported.

If I would write for some Minister of Parlament I would say...

2008-12-11T04:12:00.000Z

Little Green Street, the only street still with good condictions of Georgian times

Sr. Minister of Parlament,

I came by this letter express my concerns to you about the enviroment in UK. Came to me through a "The Guardian" article the horrible things that are happening to the environment and even if it's not news for you I would like to share.

According to Larry West, an award-winning investigative journalist once nominated for a Pulitzer prize, more than 20 of Britain's best-loved landmarks are in danger of degenerating or desapiering. The Tower of London and Greenwich Maritime Museum, for example, are at risk from rising sea levels which, according to the article, will lead the River Thames to flood its banks. Anothers Britain's ancients architecturals treasures are at risk of becoming derelict because of a lack of fundings. A example is Strawberry Hill, Sir Horace Walpole's folly in Twickenham, west London, which sparked the Gothic revival in the early 19th century, that is struggling to raise £8m. St Mary's church in Lindsey, Lincolnshire, needs urgently £3m for renovations otherwise will turn into one more abandoned soon. Battersea power station which is becoming more run-down every day, north London and the Georgian streets which the only one still intact is the Little Green Street and further north the Holderness coast, in East Yorkshire the sea is having a rising in the level because of climate changes and the list doesn't stop here. If we speak about the rest of the world is even worse.

I'm appealling for you in name of the beautiful and historical places that we have here and nobody wants to lose. If you merit your place in that chair, please, do something, even a small thing, but do.

Britons or Brazilians?

2008-11-15T00:59:00.000Z

The first time I saw a group of Britons jumping and screaming without shirts outside a pub I really got scared, but now I have got used to seeing it and it doesn't scare me anymore because I know that when this happens it is because there's a football match.
Before I saw this kinds of action in London I didn't kow that Britons were so fanatical about football as brazilians.
I used to think that just brazilian people were crazy about football but now I know that Britons are so. Different from what a lot of people probably think in Brazil, and I used to think as well, when watching a football match they really scream and jump instead of being calm and quiet, they are as crazy as brazilians.
During the football they lose the calm British way of being and turn into ordinary football fanatics just like brazilians are.

A impressive monument

2008-11-04T03:43:00.000Z

The most impressive building or monument I've ever seen is a church in London. It's not just a simple church, but a huge Cathedral, St. Paul's Cathedral.
The first time I saw it was on the way back from my old job. I used to take the bus on the same street as the Cathedral, but not too close to it. This time I just had a view from ouside and during the night.
However, one day, more recently, I went there with some more time and I decided to go inside the Cathedral. It was open for tourists and full of them. I think there was going to be a mass in the next half hour or something like that.
Inside everything is really old, but beautiful. We don't have churches like that in Brazil. St. Paul's Cathedral has gold in every detail and it conteins statuets of generals of the past that probably were important for the Uk, or for the catholics or for the institution of the church. And it contains huge statues of angels and the roof is very tall and full of gold and the windows have some beautiful and carefully drawn pictures.
What I most liked about it is that it's smells of history and if it wasn't for the tourists I think I could have felt in the Gothic age.

Be carefull when using the oyster card

2008-11-02T21:37:00.000Z

It was my first month in London and I was looking for a job. That morning, early, I had left my house and went to a job agency and they had directed me a job in a different area that I had never been to before. I usually had the help of my boyfriend to walk around the city, but this day he could'nt go with me and I had to find everything alone.
It was in Finchley Central and it was the black line in the north. I live in Canning Town so I took the Jubilee Line to London Bridge and there I changed to the Northern line and took a train via Kentish Town. When I arrived there in the station my Oyster card didn't work at the gate. I thought it was strange because I had paid for a Daily Travel card, so I should be able to travel all day without worry like Ruither had taught me. The metro officer came to help me and he asked me to speak with the police man that was in front of me. He was speaking with someone elso so I waited and when he finally got free I went up to him and asked why my Oyster wasn't working.
To my surprise, he communicated to me that I would have to pay a 20 pounds penalty because I had travelled to zoe 4 and I had just paid for zone 1,2 and 3. I was so scared and my English was so bad that I couldn't explain well to the police man what had happened. Luckly, everything finished well because he realized that I was new in London and I didn't mean to do that, but I was scared.

Describing my house in London :)

2008-11-01T23:06:00.000Z

My house is not very interesting or different from the outside because it doesn't has a garden with beautiful green grass. So I'll describe it from inside. Although it's an old house, it had been reburbished so it's looks like a new one.
When you get into the house there's a mirror on the passage wall and opposite to the mirrors there's my room door. There's just another room on the first and the other five rooms are upstairs, but some of them are really small, different from the downstairs rooms. On the first floor, besides the rooms, there're also the kitchen and two toilets. The kitchen has a lot of white cupboards, two cookers and over them two ventilatiors and between the cookers there're two sinks. In the passage from the kitchen to the toilets there's the washing machine and some cleaning utensilies such as a mop, dust pan and brush and the bin. There's a yard at the back outside as well where we put clothes to dry.
There're in my room a bed, a chest of drawers and cupboards for clothes, shoes and dvds. Over the chest of drawers there's a tv and a dvd player and there's a stereo on the floor. Also we have a frige-freezer and a wash-basin. At the wash-basin there's a small bin on one side and a dirty clothes basket on the other. Over the frige-freezer there's two small frames. Over the wash-basin there's tooth brush, tooth past, hands wash, facial wash, mouth wash and dental floss. Over my clothes cupboard there's a soft toy. :D

MORE DETAILS IN VIDEO: http://www.orkut.com/Main#FavoriteVideoView.aspx?uid=1811619309003600315&ad=1220554424

Surrounded by strangers in their own country

2008-10-11T23:56:00.000+01:00

Picture: streets of Newham, London, where you can see lots of immigrants and almost any Briton.

Attached with their cultures immigrants create separated worlds inside London.

London is the best example of what a big city is. Crowds of people running to work, to school, there's a lot of places to go out, and everything you can imagine in a big city, London has. But, Big Ben's city has a particular and strange difference: It's an English city, but when you walk on the streets or take the underground, you hear people not speaking English, but other languages.
Big cities are good because, they are better developed than others and this is great in various ways. In big cities you can experience good music, good theatre, good educational system, good concerts and good jobs and salaries. This last one was the strongest reason for immigration, since London is surrounded by countries without many good jobs and good salaries.
The immigration history in London started in the immediate post-war years, when the demands of the economy brought people from all over the ex-british colonies. But, the massive immigration came in 1992, when countries in central Europe, including The UK, became members of the european union and people from the "not-too-rich" countries of Europe came to take their places in the factories and companies. And as time passed, south american and asian people came as well. There's some neighborhoods where immigrants concentrate with their own communities as Whitechapel and the muslims, Seven sister and the brazilians, Vaxhall and the portuguese etc...
But the point is that in this multiethnic Britain there's never a mix of cultures, instead, immigrants and Britons live in separete worlds. Immigrants when arrive in London then carry on their lives as if they were in their countries, but working in London. The majority of them, usually interact just with people from their countries and talk in their languages.
The result is horrible because it's like Britons are surrounded by strangers in their own country. Maybe the problem is coming from the Britons side as well. Perhaps it's just a consequence of social status, because immigrants normally have different jobs and neighbourhoods from Britons. But the truth is that it would be better, for both sides, if things change.

FOR UNDERSTAND MORE ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMMIGRANTS AND BRITONS IN lONDON WATCH THE MOVIE:
"THIS IS ENGLAND": http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=H0jkv2bRFgQ