Residents of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas (slums) are suffocated daily under the triple weight of poverty, drug cartel violence, and police oppression. In a culture and society as vibrant as Brazil’s, this pressure pushes against the surface with little outlet, especially for the youth. Schools are underfunded, home life is rocky for most, and getting food on the table is never a sure thing. More often than not, kids drift towards the most readily accessible example of people who have escaped poverty: the drug runners and gangbangers. Positive role models are few and far between in a sea of rickety shacks and makeshift abodes. In 1993 in the midst of the Vigário Geral favela, however, a seed was planted in the minds of a few brave individuals-- a seed that would grow into an idea and a way of life that gave hope and provided direction to a generation of favela youth.

Anderson Sá was a typical young kid in 1993, in the process of being sucked into drug trafficking like so many others. That year a tragedy took place so devastating that it would be forever burned into the memories of favela residents. The Rio police, enraged by the killings of four officers, stormed Vigário Geral with guns blazing, looking to kill anyone in sight. When the shooting finally stopped and the dust cleared, 21 innocent people were dead. Anderson Sá’s brother was among them. This had an immediate and life-changing impact on Anderson. His mother worried that the killing would push him further into the world of drugs, but it had the opposite effect. Right then and there, he set out to find a way to stop the endless cycle of violence that his community was trapped in.

Anderson’s thinking soon led to the realization that the only way to end the culture of violence was to substitute it with a more positive cultural model. The first manifestation of this was the Grupo Cultural AfroReggae, a cultural group focused on music and black culture that Anderson started along with his friend José Junior and others. It published the AfroReggae Noticias, a newspaper for youth that focused on hip-hop, reggae and soul music. There was such a need for a positive cultural message that their first community center, the Núcleo Comunitario de Cultura, was opened. It filled a void in people’s lives, and all of a sudden kids in the favela had a place to go to learn music, capoeira, theater and dance. They opened the Vigário Legal AfroReggae Cultural Center in 1997, a larger facility in the community. The musical aspect was especially appealing, and from there Banda AfroReggae was formed. It soon became a huge hit in the favela, thanks to some donated percussion and sound equipment. The band and the movement steadily gained national popularity, thanks in part to the charismatic face of the organization, Anderson Sá.

Several years later, budding filmmaker Jeff Zimbalist was at home in Brooklyn when he received a call from his friend Matt Mochary, who was on the phone from a favela in Rio. Jeff and Matt had been looking to make a movie focused on an example of a successful and innovative community in Latin America, and Matt had found the perfect story. He wanted to examine the community built around AfroReggae and how other communities and favelas throughout Rio were confronting violence. Jeff was sold on the idea, to the point that he quit his job and met Matt in one of Rio’s most violent favelas, Vigário Geral. The scope of the movie steadily shrank as the process progressed and it became more and more apparent that Anderson Sá was a natural vehicle through which to tell the story of poverty, violence, and AfroReggae.

Jeff and Matt spent three years filming in the favela, making many trips back and forth between Rio de Janeiro and New York and becoming close friends with the leaders of AfroReggae. The film Favela Rising emerged naturally from their experiences. It was one of the first documentaries to shine a light on the violence that grips the everyday lives of poor people in Brazil. It shows how courage in the face of fear and intimidation can change the futures and destinies of kids whose outlooks were once hopeless. It illustrates the power that music has to transform society.

Join us this Sunday at 11pm EST/8pm PST for the DOC-DEBUT premiere of the groundbreaking documentary Favela Rising.

There are a select few public figures alive in the world today that have transcended fame and entered the realm of living legend. It is difficult to separate person and myth when they have reached this level, and rare to get a glimpse into who they really are. The Dalai Lama is one such figure, someone who has been in the public spotlight for the majority of his life, a person who is seen as a holy symbol by his people and revered the world over for his courage and outspokenness against oppression. Yet, behind the public persona there is a man who few outside of his inner circle have seen. Filmmaker Josh Dugdale gained unprecedented access to His Holiness for a three-year period and was able to elucidate not only the Dalai Lama’s true political intentions, but also his humor, joy, pain, and humanity as well. The result is Sunday’s DOC-DEBUT premiere of The Unwinking Gaze.

Throughout his lifetime, the Dalai Lama has struck a tenuous balance between spiritual leader and political activist. It is an amazing feat for a person to be able to carry such gravitas spiritually while also being a savvy political operator and inspirational leader. And to think that this person was discovered as the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in a far flung village at the age of two makes one wonder whether the Tibetan leaders who found him really did come upon the true reincarnation. One of the most intriguing mysteries surrounding this man is whether he has become the individual he is through teaching, meditation, and life experience, or whether divine lineage through past lives really do account for his extraordinary character.

Josh Dugdale’s film gets closer to this answer than any movie that has come before: there is no clear explanation beyond the Dalai Lama’s humility and humanity. Dugdale follows him from the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile in Dharamsala, India, to Canada, England, and the United States. The film shows the Dalai Lama as an oasis of composure in a sea of chaos. He is surrounded by Chinese misinformation techniques, radical Tibetans who are impatient at his approach, opportunistic Western politicians, and fiery emotions on all sides. Dugdale is able to get inside the calm eye of the storm and see what makes the Dalai Lama tick. His Holiness is indefatigable despite his frenzied calendar and advancing age. He remains patient in pursuit of a solution despite his people’s growing anxiety. He is aware of Western countries’ attempts to use him as a pawn in their power plays against increasing Chinese influence, and like a skilled chess player, strategically sees several moves ahead.

On his motivations for making The Unwinking Gaze, director Dugdale says, “I had seen a number of films on the Dalai Lama, but I felt they didn’t show who he really was. It seemed that he was being wheeled out for the cameras, for stage-managed set pieces.” This film strips away the veneer and gets at the man behind the curtain. It presents fair critiques from both sides, and the measured responses of the Dalai Lama. In an age of fiery political rhetoric and few admirable leaders, it is refreshing to see someone confront maddening politics with reason. It is even more refreshing to see the internal struggles that the Dalai Lama confronts, just like any other human being has to. Tune in this Sunday at 11pm EST/8pm PST and meet the real Dalai Lama for the first time.