FAVELA ON BLAST

s inopsis The documentar y por trays the culture that surrounds “ funk carioca”, musical rhy thm that mixes the American electronic funk with several influences of Brazilian music. The “baile funk” (funk ball) is probably one of the most interesting musical movements in the world, but it cer ta inly comes from one of the most violent and poorest places as well: the slums of Rio de Janeiro city (the “ favelas”).

This music is the personalization of raw elements. Bombastic rhy th ms coming from the American Miami Bass, loops and samples are united with powerful rap vocal using Brazilian slang. It is music to be listened to as loud as possible with the bass sound pumping the tropical nights of Rio de Janeiro.

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Concept 1 .T H E BAILE FUNK: the goal is to show the ball as t he e nc o u nte r mo me nt b e twe e n figures who form the funk culture: The MC (t he s i ng e r) , t he DJ (t he o ne w ho p roduces the beat or the rhy thm) and the “ fu n ke i ro s” ( “ fu n ke rs” ) , w ho a re t he a udience at these par ties. At the ball ever y t h i ng i s m i xe d u p a nd c hao s i s t he e ngine that moves the human interactions. T he da nc e i s b ot h fra nt ic a nd s ex y and the ball can be represented as some so r t of b o d y e c stasy of t he c u ltu ra l experience of funk music.

2 . T H E FAVELA (THE SLUM): a space of cultural c o nt rad ic t io n , e stua r y of ne wne ss and renovation and a setting for war. The fa ve la nowada ys re p re s e nts a vo r tex in the global urbanism, some sor t of emba r rass me nt w it h i n fo r ma l s o c iet y. A product of the social exclusion in industrial t i me s , it sy m b o l i ze s a f ie ld i n w h ic h culture renews and contradicts itself at the s a me t i me . It i s i n t h i s “ p a rau r b a n” space, responsible for the Brazilian cultu ra l re c yc l i ng , t hat t he c u ltu re of fu n k carioca comes about.

3 . T H E CHARACTERS: They are the MCs, DJs, com p o s e rs , da nc e rs a nd c u ltu ra l p ro d ucers who, coming from the slums (and fro m t he m idd le c lass e s , s o me t i me s), have produced what today it is called “cultu re of fu n k c a r io c a” fro m t he 70 ’s now.

4.T H E MUSIC: The roots of funk are the same ro ots of t he g lo b a l e le c t ro n ic m us ic , which has the German group Kraf twerk as its c re ato rs . Af te r wa rds , t h i s m us ic al style evolved in the US through the hands of M C Afr ic a B a m b ata . H e i nf l ue nc ed what would turn to be the Miami Bass move me nt , i n F lo r ida . T h i s i s t he le g it i mate father for the funk carioca, which has its i nde p e nde nc e e sta b l i s he d fro m the creation of mixed rhy thms that typica l l y a re B ra z i l ia n , s uc h as t he s a m b a, the “ forró”, the “par tido alto”, among othe rs .

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directo rs & producers Le a n d ro H B L was born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 197 7. He graduated in Communication and Ar ts from Pontifícia Catholic University of Minas Gerais (1999), where he also taught Audiovisual Communication. In 1996 he created MOSQUI TO VIDEO & DESIGN, at which he is the creative director. He worked with video, illustration, graphic design, photography, cinematography and interactive design.

He star ted his career in Cuba in 1998 with the Mira project. At the same period he also studied “Cinematography ” at the International Cinema and T V School of Cuba (San Antonio de Los Baños).

From 2003 to 2006 Leandro joined FABRICA’s Audiovisual Depar tment where he developed creative work in photo, video, cinema and installations. As it is known, FABRICA is the Benetton Research and Development Communication Center (www.fabrica.it).

Many pieces of his were selected for film & video festivals and ar t exhibitions worldwide, including Videoex (Zurich, Switzerland); San Francisco Film Festival USA; VideoBrasil International Ar t Festival (São Paulo, Brazil); Latin American DigiFest; JVC video festival (Tokyo, Japan); CineEsquemaNovo film festival (Rio Grande do Sul,Brazil) and Paço Imperial(RJ, Brazil).

www.leandrohbl.com

We s l e y Pe ntz ( Dj Diplo) is a Grammy nominated producer and DJ who was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S. A . in 1978. He spent most of his childhood in Florida where he began to work with electronic music and film. When Pentz was 18 he moved to Philadelphia for college and eventually began working in an inner-city school as a teacher and social worker.

As Diplo, Pentz star ted a career in music and multimedia that has brought him to a level of international acclaim, performing before sold-out audiences from Tokyo to Cape Town to Tel Aviv to Mexico City.

He has written, produced and remixed music for M.I. A ., Santogold, Beck, Radiohead, and countless other ar tists. The single Pentz cowrote and produced for M.I. A . “Paper Planes” went double platinum in sales and was nominated for the 2009 Record of the Year Grammy.

Pentz’s record label Mad Decent has helped to introduce Brazilian Baile funk, Angolan Kuduro, and other marginalized music to clubs around the world. With the same mission in mind, some of the varied acts he has signed to Mad Decent include Bonde do Role (Brazil), Blaqstarr (US) and Boy 8 Bit (UK). Pentz’s charity Heaps Decent seeks out young indigenous and underprivileged ar tists in Australia and provides them with suppor t and resources that are enabling them to transform Australian club music and create a thriving music scene in Sydney.

www.maddecent.com

FICHA TÉCNICA D i re c to rs: Leandro HBL & Wesley Pentz P ro d uc e rs: Leandro HBL & Wesley Pentz Exe c ut ive producers: Beto Cattabriga, Vâ n ia C ata ni, Leandro HBL & Wesley Pentz Production director: Amiten Cinematography: Leandro HBL Ed ito r: Ricardo Mehedff & Breno For tes Music: Wesley Pentz (Diplo) Ass i stants: Cristiano Lara & Calé Still Still: Rebekka Elhers P ro d uc t io n c o m p a ny: Mad Decent & Mosquito project Co_Producer: Bananeira Filmes C ast : M C Catra, Deise Tigrona, MC Leleco, G a io la da Po p oz udas , DJ S anny, MC Colibri, MC Gorila, MC P reto , DJ S a ny P it b u l l , M C Duda, DJ Grandmaster Rafael, DJ C a r lo s M ac hado, DJ Marlboro, DJ Sandrihno CONTACTS: Mosquito Project LeandroHBL e ma i l: favelaonblastfilm@gmail.com tel: 0055 11 87 74 8181

Mad Decent Diplo email: diplo@maddecent.com tel: 001 2152757155

“Rio fu n k c usto m is e s ra w, b o m b ast ic M ia mi rhy thms with percussive loops of s a m b a dr u m s a nd a l i ve l y a nd u n relenting Brazilian rapping style . It\ ’s a m us ic de s i g ne d to b e p la ye d as loud as possible, with the bass tu r ne d h i g h i n t he swe lte r i ng , t ro p ic al night. Recently, however, it has a ls o b e e n f i nd i ng s uc c e ss i n c o lde r climes.”

ALEX B E L LO S , T he O b s e r ve r

Mosqu ito Vide o & D e s i g n • Le a nd ro H B L • e ma i l : fa ve lao n b lastf i l m @ g ma i l . c o m www.le a nd ro h b l . c o m /fu n kf i l m • w w w. madde c e nt . c o m /fa ve lao n b last Making of at : w w w.v i me o . c o m /fave lao n b last