Category: Docudrama

Bus 174

In 2000, Sandro do Nascimento, a young man from a poor background, held passengers on a bus hostage for four hours. The event was caught live on television. The movie examines the incident and what life is like in the slums and favelas of Rio de Janeiro and how the criminal justice system in Brazil treats the lower classes. Within the film, Padilha interviews former and current street children, members of the Rio police force, the Rio BOPE police team, family members, and sociologists in order to gain insight into what led Nascimento to carry out the hijacking.

Brazil, Docudrama, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues

Che, Part II: Guerrilla

Part two of Stephen Soderbergh's chronicle of the revolutionary activities of Ernesto "Che" Guevara examines Guevara's attempts to start a revolutionary guerrilla movement in the jungles of Bolivia. Beginning with his arrival in Bolivia under a false identity, the film traces the factors which result in ultimate failure, as well Guevara's untimely demise. Efforts to attract the support of Bolivian peasantry ultimately fail as Che's band is unable to convince the peasants that supporting them is in their best interests. The insurgency effort becomes more and more desperate as the Bolivian military, with the support of the United States, steadily gains the upper hand in its attempts to quell the rebellion.

Bolivia, Cuba, Docudrama, History

Geografias Suaves 2

Part 2 of a series of shorts from the 2004 Geografias Suaves regional film festival which feature Maya speaking peoples from Yucatan and Chiapas. The shorts include a video postcard documenting the lives and everyday experiences of children and their communities as well as stories based on folklore and oral tradition from the region.

Docudrama, Indigenous Peoples, Mexico, Social Issues, Social Life and Customs

Presumed Guilty / Presunto culpable

In December, 2005, Tono Zuniga was picked up off the street of Mexico City, Mexico, and sentenced to 20 years for a murder he knew nothing about. A friend of Tono's contacted two young lawyers, Robert Hernandez and Layda Negrete, who gained prominence in Mexico when they helped bring about the release of another innocent man from prison. Shot over three years with unprecedented access to the Mexican courts and prisons, this dramatic story is a searing indictment of a justice system that presumes guilt.

Docudrama, Mexico, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues, Social Movements/Resistance, Subject

Prision Insomne, La

This documentary gives the viewer the unfortunate important facets of life and the controversial work of the poet Gabriel de la Concepción Valdés, Plácido, during the first half of the turbulent and contradictory colonial nineteenth century in Cuba. The audiovisual speech reveals different nuances and mysteries about the identity of the bard and the essential features and significance of the poetry staff. The film also delves into their participation in the so-called Escalera Conspiracy against the Spanish government in power at the time.

Art, Country/Region, Cuba, Culture/Festivals/Food, Docudrama, History, Literature, Politics/Human Rights, Social Life and Customs, Subject

Race And History In Brazil: Aleijadinho

This is a special 2-DVD Set. The first DVD is titled "Aleijadinho: Passion, Glory and Torment" and is set in 18th century Brazil - a time when slavery was still the foundation of the Latin American economy. This fascinating historical drama is loosely based on the life of Black sculptor Antonio Francisco Lisboa "Aleijadinho," one of the greatest sculptors of Latin America. The second DVD is a documentary "Denying Brazil," covering taboos, stereotypes, and struggles of Black actors in Brazilian television "soaps." Based on his own memories and on a sturdy body of research evidence, the director analyzes race relations in Brazilian soap operas, calling attention to their likely influence on Black People's identity-forming processes.

Brazil, Culture/Festivals/Food, Docudrama, History, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues

Teresa Poester – 10.357 KM Em Linha

This documentary reveals the artist's creative process in the series in which she uses large paper and ballpoint pen. The documentary opens the series Collection Processes de Creation, an initiative designed for the production of a set of short documentary films that portray the process of creating contemporary Gaucho artists from different areas. The documentary by Niura Borges presents a specific cut in the production of 35 years of Teresa Poester's career, one of the most renowned artists in the state. The film features testimonials by artists Antônio Augusto Bueno, Laura Castilhos, Maria Helena Bernardes and Marilice Corona, by the poet and writer Armindo Trevisan, by the filmmaker Jorge Furtado, by the student Kelvin Koubik.

Art, Biography, Brazil, Docudrama

Warrior Of Light

 Documentary about artist Yvonne Bezzerra de Mello, a human rights activist and her work with homeless boys in Rio de Janeiro.

Biography, Brazil, Docudrama, Politics/Human Rights, Social Issues