Brazil: the social life in Rio’s biggest favela

IWTW ‘Explore’ is about highlighting different trends around the world and presenting audiences with both sides of the story in order to facilitate a better understanding of world issues and decision making in the spheres of the economy, society, environment, technology and politics.

What is it about?

Brazilian favelas are home to migrants and the descendants of slaves. And, they are often located on steep, nearly inaccessible mountain slopes.

There are many assumptions that are made about favelas. For example, that they’re controlled by drug gangs, that life expectancy is low, and that the murder rate is high. But what’s it really like to live in a favela? What do people there need to do to survive? Do they have many – or any – opportunities to move out?

These are some of the questions explored by reporter Matthias Ebert and his team. He lodges with a family in the Favela Rocinha, in a picturesque setting with a view over the beaches of Rio. He meets Bianca, who keeps her head above water with a patchwork of short-term jobs. He meets some of the people controlling the favela. Matthias Ebert can’t reveal their identity. He also meets members of a church, and finds that a new power is emerging in the slums: evangelical Christians wielding their religion as a solution to all problems.

Why should I watch it?

  • More than 422K views since 15 dec 2023
  • More than 4.4K likes

Full episode (by DW documentaries)

IWTW note: The opinions in the video don’t necessarily represent those of IWTW. The goal of IWTW ‘Explore’ is to inform its audience about interesting developments around the world through a selection of short and long documentaries. IWTW considers those documentaries to be great starting points for further discussion. I strive to update the selection of content should ‘better’ documentaries emerge over time.

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