If you know anyone that is an aspiring rapper please take them to see this film. I guarantee you will see that the music we listen to has lost all of its validity. There was a time when Hip-Hop music was used to educate, enlighten and empower the youth. All American Hip-Hop seeks to do now is make the youth consumers serving lifetime sentences in poverty and despair. This movie will remind you that there is another way.
‘Favela Rising’ tells the story of ANDERSON SA, a former drug trafficker from Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum, who becomes a social activist and uses music and dance, inspired by the rhythms of his streets, to combat the violence and oppression that have affected generation after generation of impoverished teens. SA’s grassroots Afro-Reggae movement becomes a vital force in unifying a divided city, combating teenage drug armies, and overcoming police corruption.
Then, at the height of his success, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever. Filmed over more than two years in the most desperate neighborhoods of Rio, the film illustrates how art and culture can be catalysts for social change, and how even the most unexpected adversity, both personal and societal, can be overcome.
The cinematography rivals that of City of God because it shows the actual poverty that exists in Brazil. This story is real though and it shows the power of a true believer.
