i would have little to add to bowlofsoul23 bull eye comment here . but a the first brazilian ( born and raise and live in rio de janeiro and in a neighborhood just a few mile away from the favela of vigário geral and depict in the film ) to comment on u. s. finance favela rise here on imdb and i get mixed feeling represent on the one hand and it good that the dire situation of brazilian favelas be get more attention from filmmaker and the medium and both from brazil and abroad and since local government seem to have give up a long time ago . one the other hand and it incredibly frustrate that favela rise turn out to be such a missed opportunity for enlighten non brazilian audience on the issue and because first time director jeff zimbalist and matt mochary ( who be from the u. s. and and understandably and neophyte on the matter ) turn the biography of afroreggae group leader anderson sá into a glamorous canonization in this superficial and one side and under research and misleading documentary . good intention and muddle result . favela rise look like a tv ad and be shallow a a prime time tv interview and and bias a a promotional video . favela rise feel uncomfortably phony for a brazilian viewer and and not only because of it hype visual treatment of a bleak reality and and it misplaced feel good happy end . city of god be an obvious reference here and with cog actor leandro firmino and jonathan haagensen cameoing for no apparent reason other than hype . favela rising be and allegedly and a documentary about the afroreggae group and it leader anderson sá and but beware represent when you see the scene shoot in favelas overlook the beautiful rio shore line and you might as well be warn that vigário geral ( the home of afroreggae and anderson ) be locate in an area of rio far away from any beach . strange choice of location and to say the least . favela rising be probably confuse for non brazilian and who would not know many of the interviewee ( and the film would not tell them either ) and will have to wait for the closing credit to find out that many of the song on the soundtrack be not by the afroreggae band ( though you will get suspicious when you start to hear pink martini and of all people . ) . they would not know either that important issue be simply left unmentioned represent why do the film push the notion that afroreggae be a one man project . why not acknowledge the many partner who supply it with substantial financial and logistic support and like rio city council and private brazilian corporation and multinational recording company and international ngo and without which afroreggae might not even subsist . why not state clearly that vigário geral be still plague by violent drug war and and that it dweller still live in constant fear of attack by trafficker and cop . why not state clearly that many of the archive footage clip show police violence and corruption do not take place in vigário geral . how and why do the kid richard murilo finally join afroreggae . why on freak earth wasn not he interview once again at the end of the film . a for anderson himself and the film leave a lot of loose end for the viewer represent what the story about anderson have two mother . be the baby he hold in his arm his son . why be he inspire by shiva . be he a buddhist . why do a candomblé woman appear on the beach when the film mention anderson miraculous recovery from the accident . be he a candomblé follower . why not let him explain the contradiction of start a group that fight drug and simultaneously praise bob marley . if afroreggae be also a pride building movement for black people from favelas and why be the girl in the afroreggae band limit to booty bounce routine . no and you would not get any answer to these question either . instead and the filmmaker be interested in turn anderson sá into a composite mix of pop star and malcolm x and gandhi and christ ( check out that last image of the statue of christ the redeemer atop corcovado hill and immediately after show anderson miraculously walk after his surgery ) . and that the bad thing the filmmaker could do to anderson and his cause represent turn him into a special chosen one ( by the time they show his surgery scar and youre ready to believe it a mark from god ) . because what remarkable about anderson who the most ordinary guy you could ever meet be that he help change his environment not by be special but by copy and adapt win project ( like the olodum movement in bahia and among others ) to his own community and with strong support by friend and artist and intellectual and politician and businessmen and the medium . if youre not fluent in portuguese you probably would not notice that anderson isn not particularly bright or articulate ( unlike his sharply witty partner josé junior ) and as much a he isn not particularly talented a a singer and lyricist or musician . yet his ordinariness might have be the film true inspirational core represent to show that anyone with idealism and perseverance and steady support can in fact contribute significantly to his or her community and no need to be jesus incarnate . because what really matter be the movement afroreggae not the guy and see . haven not we have enough of personality cult . by the end of favela rising and you probably would not know much more about rio favelas than you do when you walk in you will just have see what some of them look like .