Rio is so real....

On some level, I knew that everything you do changes you.  But with each trip to Brazil, I realize that I am being changed from the inside out.

As I looked at the kids learning how to become a DJ in the Spin Rohinha DJ School produced by my friend and documentary subject DJ Zezinho, I saw young adults present and in the now, focused 100% plus on learning the fundamentals of DJ'ing.  From my time spent in their neighborhood, eating, walking and talking with Zezinho, I realize that these people have very real challenges to just making it to the class each day.

I had the pleasure of touring both Rocinha, and Vidigal with two cariocas, and then reaching a comfort level that allowed me to visit first Rocinha and attend a baille funk, (funk party) and then Vidigal to shop for a new watch and clothing.  I have personally ridden on a moto taxi (motorcycle taxis, that are sometimes ridden by multiple people), to go up the hills of a favela, and walked down in the rain trying to avoid getting run over by a van zooming down what I now know are former race courses.

I have visited favelados who were in the process of building their new kitchens, and finding ways to improve their homes.  Below is the entrance to an artist's studio and home.  The artist was just as enthusiastic about showing the new kitchen that he's building as he was about showing his new work.

I remembered myself at the age of the DJ school students (14-30), when I was singing backup for different groups, believing that anything was possible.  Now I am actually seeing myself as I was, and being brought back to believing in my ability to make dreams come true.  As I return to the states to find that in many cases I have to wait until the new grant-writing cycle for many documentary film grants, I am slightly disheartened to be honest, but at the same time, I feel challenged to find a new way to create a portrait of the spirit of the people in Brazil that have inspired me to create my documentary WHY BRAZIL?  This is an opportunity to rework my current work sample/rough cut of the beginning of the film, because I believe more than ever that these people are special, and to get accepted for a grant I will need to create an accurate portrait, while maintaining the privacy and trust of my subjects.

I am reminded of the news report I sat and watched while having dinner in Vidigal, understanding every fifth word, about the progress being made to finish the soccer stadiums in time for the World Cup in 2014.  President Dilma Rousseff is still adamant that it is possible to meet the goal of having the majority finished by early 2013, despite naysayers.  One persons belief can make the impossible, possible.  President Rousseff is forced to deal with a population which has more faith in the belief that corruption is the only constant in Brazilian government.  She has answered this by the changeover of at last count 9 members of her cabinet that left because of corruption, or fear of investigation into corruption.

My challenge is Why Brazil...why would an audience be interested in following the challenges and hardships experienced by these characters.  Who is that audience?  I have to face naysayers who don't believe they are special. How will I do that, personalizing the story and bringing in how this process is changing me... or including the side comments ('Gringo) that Zezinho faces from jealous people, or the stress of being a student, with a child that Patricia faces, or the challenge of trusting people with his livelihood in Rio that Rotimi faces while going to other cities with bands that he is producing.

The people are either interesting or they're not.  That's real.  I believe they are interesting.  Can I show what I find interesting and universal about these people and define the audience that would also find them interesting?

The Interim...

It has been quite a long time since, I posted here, but of course I feel my absence has been justified.  I have sent out seven applications for grants for my documentary, working title WHY BRAZIL.  To do this I first bought a new computer right after returning from Carnival 2011, and was busy learning Final Cut so that I could edit the work sample of the documentary, which is actually a rough cut of an opening sequence for the film.

In the meantime, I have been getting to know my subjects, Zezinho, Patricia, and Rotimi, through emails, and facebook, and sharing my experiences with them through the social media.

What I have come to realize is that for the documentary to be real I will have to open up myself, and share even more of my own background with my subjects who are now my friends as well.  I am here in Rio now, and beginning to do that.  This time around having only been here two days I have spent a day hanging out with Zezinho, essentially just getting to know him, and sharing some of my history, and the next night I got an opportunity to go to my first baille funk with Patricia and her sister Priscilla who I met in person for the first time, yesterday.  Its funny how you can feel comfortable with someone just from seeing pictures of a person, and in Priscilla's case knowing her sister Patricia.  We partied like old friends.  I'm sure many people can relate, how disarming it is to first meet or hear of someone through the internet.

This is how I met my boyfriend of almost two years, and I am a solid convert, and believer that sometimes people are braver and more open on the internet, than they would normally be in person upon meeting someone for the first time.

Along with editing, and grant writing, I have been following the progress, and challenges of Zezinho, Patricia, and Rotimi, and the progress and challenges of its new leader Dilma Rousseff.  I believe that the Brazilian people were not quite prepared to have such a strong female leader.  I have come to know that she is cleaning house in the Brazilian government, and I hope this will have a positive effect on the ability of "all" Brazilians to benefit from the money and opportunities that will come to Brazil with the advent of the World Cup and the Olympics.

A large part of me created this documentary is me experiencing first hand how Brazilians feel about about their reality.  One example was the experience I had catching a taxi to Vidigal, a favela in Rio where I am staying.  The hostel sent a taxi to meet me, but it broke down right outside the airport, and I had to get a regular cab.  Some of the cab drivers, made a face when I mentioned my destination like "why would you want to go there?"  I might have been assuming, but I got the impression that this was not a desirable location, and they couldn't understand why I would want to go there.  Its one thing to be told by favelados that they are discriminated against, and its another to experience that discrimination indirectly myself.