Rio Gringa

Pelada New York Premiere

No, this has nothing to do with nudity, but it is good news for futebol fans! Pelada, the wonderful documentary about soccer in Brazil and around the world, is coming to New York! Gwendolyn, one of the filmmakers, was nice enough to send me the info so I could share it with all of you. The screening is coming at the end of September, so mark your calendar!

 

NEW YORK PELADA PREMIERE
with an introduction by Ethan Zohn
plus Q&A with directors
Ryan White and Gwendolyn Oxenham

Tuesday, September 21st - 8pm
Legends Bar & Restaurant
*Doors open at 7pm for food and drinks.  Kids welcome.
Seating is first come, first serve-so come early for seats!
6 West 33rd Street
New York, NY 1001-3321
212-967-7792

Partial proceeds will go towards Grassroots Soccer,
a non-profit which uses the power of soccer
in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Buy tickets here

 

Mall Stars

Shopping malls have become a huge commercial success in Brazil, a destination for families, a place to get dressed up and be seen, a weekend activity, and of course, to buy stuff. In big cities with traffic and crime, malls have become a way for the upper and middle classes to escape the hordes into a secluded, air-conditioned bubble, and for the emerging lower middle class to access the products they previously couldn't afford. Because malls are big businesses, their PR people have started bringing in big Hollywood stars to help promote them - in these cases, some of the swankiest and most expensive malls in the country.

And this isn't for a mall (it's for hair products), but it's an oldie but goodie. See more gringos in Brazil on Top Ten Gringos in Brazil!

 

Uncensored Humor

More stories are coming in from around the world about Brazil's oppressive media censorship law during the election campaign period, and here are a couple excellent pieces. I highly recommend the Al Jazeera piece, which is by far one of the most comprehensive articles written in English about the law and political comedy in Brazil.

Brazil's Political Satire Ban Irks Comedians, NPR [Listen or read here]

Excerpt: "In Brazil, broadcasters are barred by law from ridiculing any candidate in the run-up to an election. Advocates say the restrictions prevent unfair portrayals of the candidates, while critics say the ban threatens free speech. Over the weekend, a group of Brazilian humorists and their supporters held a protest rally. NPR's Robert Siegel talks to Jonathan Wheatley, Brazil correspondent for the Financial Times."

Banning Political Humor: No Satire Please, We're Brazilian, TIME [Read here]

Excerpt: "It's always tough getting people interested in party politics in Brazil, a nation where ideology is non-existent, political parties stand for little more than organized power grabs, and where, according to Transparency Brazil, 40% of the country's Congress has been found guilty of some kind of corruption-related crime. One of the best ways was to treat the subject with humor, because if you didn't laugh, you'd cry. Now, even that option is a non-starter, thanks to a new law that has prohibited the broadcast media from "in any way degrading or ridiculing candidates, parties or coalitions."

Brazilian elections no joke. Literally. Al Jazeera [Read here]

Excerpt: "Brazil's 2010 national elections - where over 22,000 candidates running for municipal, state and federal offices (including president) - concludes on October 3. The law is clearly aimed at comical shows such as CQC and others, and calls for fines that can reach roughly $100,000 against the broadcasters who allow comedians appearing on their station who violate it."

Twi-Hard

And so begins the aftermath of last weekend's hostage incident in Rio. This happens every time violence in Rio makes headlines outside of Brazil, where a new round of panic ripples through the international community and fear keeps potential tourists, businessmen, and visitors away. Rio's bad rep is renewed only when people actually pay attention, and unfortunately, people get legitimately spooked.

The latest is that the studio behind the final Twilight saga movie has threatened to cancel its shoot in Rio,where they were supposedly due to film scenes, presumably the honeymoon scenes on an island in Angra Bay. This, I would like to point out, is about two hours from Rio, and if they did shoot on an island, security wouldn't exactly be difficult.

But alas! The word spread all over the news, even legitimate publications like USA Today. The first to get the news was Entertainment Weekly:

"Plans to shoot The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn in Rio De Janeiro may be scrapped following a gang hostage situation that turned bloody at Rio’s Intercontinental Hotel on Sunday. (Drug gang members took 35 people hostage before participating in a gun battle with police that left one dead and six injured.) AFP reports that while cast and crew are fearful about filming in the area, officials in Rio are attempting to convince them to continue production. Rio is expected to profit up to $1 million if Breaking Dawn shoots in the Brazilian city."

The thing is, the scenes could theoretically be shot on any small island (I'm guessing there are some off the coast of LA that would work just fine), and unless they add new scenes not in the book, there's really no reason for them to shoot in Rio proper. Filming in Angra is very different from shooting in the city, and if they were that scared of the city they could put everyone up at a hotel somewhere on the coast or Ilha Grande. My guess is that they probably want an excuse to spend less money and time on the shoot, and this was a convenient one.

On another note, I stumbled across an amusingly harsh blog post about the affair, though I think the blogger is Brazilian:

"What do drug gangs, abysmal social disparities, rampant street crime, corrupt/inept politicians, an ineffectual police force, a mostly apathetic population, and tropical beaches have in common with vampires and Hollywood movie stars? Well, according to Agence France Presse (via RobPattzNews), Summit Entertainment was in talks with Rio Filme, Rio de Janeiro’s official film agency, to shoot segments of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, in the tropical paradise where about 350 people get murdered each month — and that’s the lowest figure in about two decades."

The movie will be god awful wherever it is shot, but the money and more so (sadly), the prestige it would bring if it were made in Rio would be nice. And also sadly, if the movie studio uses the excuse of Rio's violence, it won't do anything to help encourage tourism or business travel.

Violence Anxiety

I still get a constant deluge of e-mails from people who've recently discovered my blog, mostly from people interested in moving to Brazil. One of the most common questions I get is about violence in Rio, and if it's safe to travel or live there.

So when stories like this hit the news, it's difficult to justify my answer that yes, it's safe, since the places most gringos are likely to stay are not a war zone.

This weekend, fifteen armed men broke into the Intercontinental Hotel in Sao Conrado, a wealthy neighborhood next to Rocinha, Brazil's largest favela. They took 35 people hostage in a three hour siege. One woman died, though the police claim she was part of the drug trafficking gang. The hotel invasion came after fifty gunmen had a shootout with police in the streets near the hotel.

As usual, there was something of a media orgy, and by the end of the weekend there were dozens of videos up on YouTube. A resident caught the shoot out on film, and images of BOPE marching in the hotel made their way around the world.

Sadly, this isn't exactly a new scenario in Rio. Once or twice a year, the same types of criminal groups invade a hostel in the Zona Sul or Centro and hold terrified tourists hostage for a few hours while they raid the place for money and valuables. The most recent hostel invasion was just earlier this month, in Copacabana.

A few observations, though. This does not happen every day, and is no reason to cancel a trip to Rio or to change a hotel reservation. I personally wouldn't recommend staying in Sao Conrado, if only because of the horrendous rush hour traffic and the distance from the main tourist attractions, but it's not a daily war zone, despite its proximity to Rocinha. While it's very scary occurrence, it's also no reason to assume that Rio can't host a major event. The city is actually safest during big events, and I'd expect it will be under something of a lock down during the World Cup. Most hotels have lots of security, and because of this incident, they will likely beef up and alter their security plans (the men got into the hotel through the kitchen). It's scary and upsetting, but should really be treated like terrorist attacks in the US or Europe. You can't let it scare you away, or the terrorists win.

Catching On

The media outside of Brazil seems to have finally caught on about Brazil's repressive election law forbidding spoofing of candidates by comedians. It started with an AP article, and then the story began to spread. It's a relief that the press has finally caught on to this disturbing state of affairs, which will coincide with protests in Brazil this week.

Today, CNN wrote a long story about the law, and interviewed Marcelo Tas and Helio de la Pena, who were also quoted in the AP article. Newspapers around the world picked up on the story, including the UK's Telegraph, the Washington Post, and the Financial Times, amongst others.

From CNN, which presented two sides to the story:

"No television or radio broadcaster has received a fine this year, but it has happened in previous years, and the companies feel threatened by the possibility of it happening again, since it's a very large fine and the broadcaster can end up getting off the air. The Supreme Electoral Court says that it is not enforcing the law any stricter than in the past. The law has always been applied in the same manner and the idea that this year it's more is the perception of the humorists, the court said. The comedians say humor is necessary to generate debate and to get people involved in politics. If there's no humor, people will get bored, they say."

But once again, I beat the mainstream media to the story by nearly three weeks. Maybe CNN should start reading my blog. : )

Election News

It's been a busy week, so to keep it short and sweet, here are a few recent headlines from the international press about the upcoming Brazilian elections:

No fun intended: Brazil forbids election spoofing

"Make no joke about it, Brazil's presidential election is a serious affair, devoid of Jon Stewart's wry jabs, sidesplitting Top 10 lists or the "Saturday Night Live" cast lampooning politicians left and right that characterized the U.S. contest. The reason? Brazilian TV and radio broadcasters are legally forbidden from making fun of candidates ahead of the nation's Oct. 3 election."  -- AP

[But you already read that story here first! :) ]

Ex-prostitute has eye on Rio election

"Gabriela Leite, 59, launched her campaign to become a Rio de Janeiro state congresswoman for the Green Party under the slogan "Puta Deputada," punning a Brazilian term that can mean either "deputy whore" or "hell of a deputy"." -- Times Live

Brazil election official hurt in assassination bid

"The top election official in a northeastern state of Brazil was wounded on Wednesday when gunmen fired at his car in an assassination attempt, the country's electoral authority said. Luiz Antonio de Mendonca, president of the Regional Electoral Tribunal in the small state of Sergipe, was hit by bullet fragments in the attack that took place on Wednesday morning in state capital of Aracaju." -- Reuters

As presidential campaign heats up, Dilma pulls further ahead

"The phoney war is over and the real campaigning got under way on Tuesday in the run-up to Brazil’s elections  in October. Brazilians will be bombarded by four 50-minute blocks of electoral propaganda every day – morning and noon on radio, lunchtime and evening on television – until September 30." --Financial Times