Kony 2012

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There are others out there too...

Amnesty International 50th Anniversary campaign by Euro RSCG.

McDonald’s-free

McDonald’s closes all their restaurants in Bolivia. Bolivians are just not into fast-food.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Werner Herzog does it again and takes us to another place we’ll never be able to go. This time he takes a 3D camera into a cave in the South of France that has been blocked for thousands of years and contains the oldest cave paintings in recorded history (about 30,000 years old) in pristine condition.

At first, the thought of being inside a cave for an entire movie seems daunting, but leave it to Herzog to bring the cave alive with an examination of the human condition through lessons in Paleontology, Art History, Archeology, Anthropology and Religious Studies. Long after you leave the theatre, the darkness and discoveries of the Chaveut Cave still haunt you and put in perspective how much different or similar we really are to that cave artist tens of thousands of years ago.

War in Rio part 2

While Rio still burns after one week of televised civil war, the echoes of the struggles between the favelas and the rest of city reaches North America in two documentaries that go beyond just showing life in the favelas as a spectacle.

Remix-To-Rio is a documentary about a crew from Toronto's Remix Project -- a cultural and learning institute for at-risk youth in Toronto -- who go to Rio to help build a creative centre for the youth in a favela. What they see and live there changes them and the people around them, and creates a bond beyond language in a surprising way -- surprising, if you're not Brazilian. The video was produced with the financial support of the Government of Canada and is available for free viewing on the movie website.

Meanwhile, documentarist Lucy Walker just released Waste Land, her project with Brazilian superstar art photographer Vik Muniz. He decided to do an art project in the biggest landfill in the world, located in the outskirts of the city of Rio and what he found there, despite his expectations, was a colourful and strong cast of characters, real Brazilian folk who impart beauty to the trash. Issues of classism, art value, dignity and environmentalism come up and help make this one of the best documentaries of 2010.

Both movies are moving, thought-provoking and put in perspective how we, the privileged few, see and think about poverty and happiness.

Hot Docs 2010

Two movies in particular caught my eye at this year’s Hot Docs, Toronto’s documentary film festival. They were two of the five Brazilian documentaries presented at the festival.

The first was Secrets of the Tribe, about how the Yanomami tribe was “discovered” by a group of anthropologists and then royally screwed when said anthropologists started to seriously mess things up with their presence, influence and sexual shenanigans. Fascinating subject that could be even more engaging with tighter editing.

The other was Beyond Ipanema, an overview of international Brazilian music that goes from Carmen Miranda to Garotas Suecas at full speed without ever letting the beat drop. Director Guto Barra provides a much needed source of information about the influence of the Brazilian sound in places other than Brazil. Smartly edited, competently researched and lyrically inspired.

Wonderland vs. China

As much I wanted to love it, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland leaves much to be desired. Despite Burton's unmistakable style, the special effects are underwhelming, the pacing sluggish (even though it picks up a bit on the second half) and Johnny Depps’ histrionic performance is one of his least entertaining in years. And I couldn't get over the fact that he looks just like Madonna as the Mad Hatter. There's nothing "amazing" about the 3D -- it was actually unremarkable and unnecessary (Avatar and Coraline notwithstanding, 3D has become a money-grabbing gimmick not in the service of the storytelling). This Alice could have some more wonder in it, but she did look good in shinning armour at the end.



On the other hand, Last Train Home takes you on a journey you’re not bound to forget anytime soon. Director Lixin Fan follows a couple of migrant workers in China who moved from their rural village to work in sweatshops in the big city, and their attempt to return to their village for the Chinese new year. This chaotic train ride is the largest human migration on Earth and the images that Fan captured over the course of two years are incredibly moving, shocking and beautiful. The movie puts a human price on that pair of Made-in-China jeans. Heartbreaking, thought-provoking and expertly shot.

This is it

Posthumous homage or cash grab? A bit of both, of course. This Is It leaves you wishing that this concert would have come true -- it was going to be quite a spectacle. Even though this is more a documentary than a concert video, we are still only allowed very few glimpses into the mind of the man in the mirror. Even in his last days, very little of the real person behind the shades comes through. We never see Michael sweat. Or suffer. We just see him sing and dance.

It seems that Jackson was born to be an enigma, a mythological creature we will never really understand -- a fiercely human person who ended up looking almost not human. But damn, the guy was good! Thanks, MJ! I hope they let you go in peace now (fat chance...)

Brazil Film Fest 09

Of the two Brazilian film festivals in Toronto, the Brazil Film Fest is the one with the biggest budget – and the one officially supported by the Brazilian embassy. I wonder why their selection doesn’t feature more contemporary movies. Regardless, their musical theme this year brought in some great documentaries.

My favorite was The man who bottled clouds.

An incredible documentary about the incredible story of Humberto Teixeira, the man who popularized Baião in Brazil. Turns out actress Denise Dummont (who I grew up watching in soap operas) is the man’s daughter. She goes on a quest to find her father and, along with director Lírio Ferreira, ends up also finding Baião and how it has influenced Brazilian culture. The soundtrack is amazing, the animated vignettes add a great touch, and the research was extremely well-done. There is some priceless historic footage of Rio in the 50s and folklore traditions from the desert lands of Brazil, besides some illustrious talking heads including Bethânia, Gil & Caetano (naturally,) and David Byrne himself, who’s shown riding his bike through NY and performing Baião’s classic Asa Branca. (Funny enough, Byrne was in town that same night, reading from his new book Bicycle Diaries, in which he discusses the role of bikes in creating better communities around the world.)

I also watched The mystery of samba, which is Marisa Monte turning the Velha Guarda da Portela into the Buena Vista Social Club. Lots of samba in this one, for sure.

Festival closer was Enchanted Word, a very lyrical and dynamic documentary about the relationship between music and poetry in Brazilian music. Incredible performances by some of my MPB favorites.

Speaking of my MPB favorites, Adriana Calcanhotto was also in attendance to perform at the festival closer. I became a babbling fool looking at her eyes, but she's very personable.