"5x Favela, Agora por Nós Mesmos" - A Candid Depiction Of Life In Brazilian Slums

Brazilian director Cacau Amaral visited Northeastern Illinois University on Nov. 16 for the screening of "5x Favela, Agora por Nós Mesmos"(5x Slums, Now By Ourselves,) free of charge for students in the Recital Hall. After a brief introduction from Paul Schroeder-Rodriguez, Ph.D., Department Chair of World Languages and Cultures, the movie was played on the giant screen that hung over the stage.

The screening was part of the Mostra II: Brazilian Film Series, presented by the Illinois-São Paulo Chapters, Partners of the Americas, which occurred from Nov. 9-16. "5x Favela" is a low-budget production that is made up of five short episodes, each about 15 minutes long, which were written, directed and acted out by aspiring young artists from Rio's slums; the film was even part of the official selection of Cannes Film Festival 2010 where it was well-received long before it was shown in Brazil, Cuba and the United States.

Although the episodes had their own plot lines, the central theme of living in a favela was present in all of the stories. The first episode, "Source of Income," follows the life of Maicon, an extremely bright young man who plans on going to law school. But after facing financial problems, Maicon deals cocaine to pay for books and transportation, a decision that almost proves to be deadly.

The second episode, "Rice and Beans," was directed by Amaral, another of the seven young directors. The story is about Wesley, a boy who tries to find a way to make money in order to buy a chicken for his father after hearing him say he is tired of always eating rice and beans. With the help of his friend Orelha, Wesley learns the merit of hard work and honesty—resulting in both equally funny and tragic scenes.

"Concert for Violin" tells the story of Marcia, Jota and Ademir, three friends who promise to uphold their friendship during their youth. However, things change after they become adults when Jota enters a life of crime and Ademir joins the police force. A gruesome encounter breaks out in the favela and lives are lost when the three friends stand face to face for the last time.

In "Let it Fly," young Flavio must cross to the other side of the favela in order to retrieve his friend's kite that he lost while flying it. The other side is run by a gang that he and his friends consider "the enemy" but Flavio bravely goes in and ends up learning that sometimes, you have to take a stand to break down barriers. The fifth and final episode, "Let There Be Light", tells the story of a favela located on top of a hill that loses all electricity on Christmas Eve—a common occurrence, according to Amaral—so its occupants decide to scare the engineer to make sure he doesn't leave until it is fixed.

Shot in various favelas across Rio in 2009, over 200 young people were involved in workshops that taught direction, production, photography, editing, sound and acting; in the end, 84 of them were chosen to be a part of the production of "5x Favela." Because of their creativity and participation, the film was able to show that although there is violence in Rio due to drug trafficking or militias, there is more to the city than just crime. According to Amaral, this is a common misconception that the film attempts to debunk by showing the daily life and interactions of its citizens.

After the screening, audience members were able to ask him questions that he answered, which were translated by Ariani Friedl from Mostra. Students were touched by the different stories that "5x Favela" contained, either laughing or crying during various scenes that compelled great emotion. The overall reaction of the crowd was a positive one, since audience members were able to understand the underlying messages of how variable life can be in a favela throughout the film.