Voices From the Edge: The Favela Goes to the World Social Forum, a 70-minute documentary film about the struggle of 23 community leaders from Rio de Janeiro slums to participate in the III World Social Forum, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in early 2003. Followed by a Q&A with the directors, Daniela Broitman and Fernando Salis.
WHEN: December 4th at 7:30pm
WHERE: La Peña Cultural Center – 3105 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley.
PRICE: Suggested donation is from US$12 to US$18. (No one turned away for lack of funds)
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – 11-21-03 – After successful preview screenings in New York, Brazilian filmmakers Daniela Broitman and Fernando Salis will be in the Bay Area to present and discuss their new documentary film, Voices From the Edge: The Favela Goes to the World Social Forum. The film has been selected to prestigious international festivals: Havana Film Festival (Cuba), Festival dei Popoli (Italy) and African Diaspora Film Festival (NYC). The 70-minute documentary film portrays the struggle of 23 community leaders from Rio de Janeiro slums to participate in the III World Social Forum, in early 2003 in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The WSF is the most important international event organized by civil society to discuss social justice – an alternative to the World Economic Forum that takes place in Davos, Switzerland, every year. The community leaders want their work to achieve visibility. They want their voices to be heard. Through their perspective, the film narrates the WSF and reveals the challenges that corporate-driven globalization present not only to Rio de Janeiro but to the world political agenda. Featuring Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, linguist Noam Chomsky, photographer Sebastião Salgado, Minister Benedita da Silva, filmmaker Fernando Solanas, and Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez, among other intellectuals, policymakers and social activists.
Voices From the Edge is the first documentary of the VIDEOFORUM PROJECT. The project uses the process of video production to create a forum-in-and-of-itself: promoting meetings and discussions on social issues,and spreading the goals of the WSF beyond the limits of its annual meetings. The primary focus of VIDEOFORUM is to empower low-income communities by including them in the international political debate.
