ICA PROJECTS PRESENTS

FAVELA RISING

Directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary, USA, 2005, 80 mins, Subs

Opens Friday 10 March, 2006

*Nominated for Best Documentary, 2006 Oscars

*Film of the Year 2005, International Documentary Association

*Winner, Best Emerging Documentary Filmmaker, Tribeca Film Festival 2005

*Official Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival 2005

ICA Projects is thrilled to announce the release of Oscar-nominated documentary FAVELA RISING. It will open at the ICA and nationally on Friday 10 March, 2006. FAVELA RISING is Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary’s explosive documentary about Rio de Janeiro's most violent favela (slum), and the revolutionary vision of one man, who uses hip-hop music and afro-Brazilian dance to rally his community against oppressive drug armies and corrupt police.

Anderson Sa is a former drug-trafficker turned revolutionary in the Vigário Geral favela, Rio de Janeiro’s most feared slum (the setting for Fernando Meirelles’ City of God). Haunted by the murders of his family and many of his friends, Anderson decided he must act to counter the violence and tragedy in his community.  He forms the grassroots AfroReggae cultural group with other young men and women in his community as a powerful means to bring together and inspire his peers.  They borrow instruments and teach themselves how to play.

Over the next 10 years, Anderson rallies his community to war against the violent oppression enforced by teenage drug armies and sustained by corrupt police.  Anderson and AfroReggae use hip-hop music, the rhythms of the street, and Afro-Brazilian dance to inspire poor youth who would otherwise join the drug army. The group creates cultural programs teaching percussion, dance, literacy and technology. Favela citizens and even druglords begin to see Anderson as a respected leader.  Soon the band is discovered by Universal Music, which signs AfroReggae to an international record deal.  

Just as collective mobility is overcoming all odds and Anderson’s success can’t seem to get much higher, just as the country and the world begin to notice the AfroReggae organization, a tragic accident threatens to silence the movement forever. In the face of great loss and even greater adversity, Anderson and the community come together to continue the fight to take back their streets.

Shot over a period of two years, FAVELA RISING chronicles the rise of AfroReggae, and celebrates the strength of the human spirit to assert itself in the face of human rights violations, social injustice, and unexpected adversity. It explores the music and culture of Brazil's underclass as it transforms into a catalyst for grassroots social-change.

Further press information: Emma Pettit, ICA Press Office, 020 7766 1406 / emmap@ica.org.uk  

ICA, The Mall, London, SW1.  Tickets & Box Office information: 020 7939 3647 / www.ica.org.uk

Official website: www.favelarising.com

Afro Reggae play live at the Barbican on 3 and 4 March, 2006. Live ICA date tbc.