My proposal for your program is an interdisciplinary course of study working with youth in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Material for this study will be recorded and archived digitally through the creation of personal narratives, web based educational media, and the collection of Brazilian pop culture media samples. More specifically, I will focus on the world of Baile Funk and Rap Proibido in an attempt to reveal the socio-economic factors and pop culture images that help form stereotypes about the subculture participants. Rap Proibido is a form of Brazilian hip-hop that is prohibited from commercial distribution due to the nature of the lyrics that often indict the police force for corruption. Baile Funk refers to the music most commonly played at free street parties in urban favelas. These two forms of popular underground music give voice to the concerns of youth in the large urban favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
In my previous guerilla video work I used Brazilian Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed techniques to portray true stories of oppression rather than relying on talking heads for narration. I intend to expand on these methods and utilize Theater of the Oppressed techniques to act out the true stories of oppression that have helped form the lyrics of Rap Proibido songs. These true stories will reveal the living and working conditions of youth in these communities that are only recently being officially acknowledged by the Brazilian government.
In order to access the human resources needed to complete this project, I will collaborate with at least two non-profit organizations in Brazil. I have established a relationship with Cinema Nosso, a Rio based non-profit that teaches youth how to produce documentary video. Filmmakers Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund originally formed the organization to train youth in acting techniques for the film City of God. They now have an educational center in downtown Rio equipped with Final Cut Pro editing systems. I will provide training and technical assistance for the organization beginning this July. Cinema Nosso is interested in sharing videos with similar South American communities via the web. I intend to conduct a two-week guerilla filmmaking workshop for youth in their organization. Ideally we will create and publish a few personal narratives to stimulate this cultural exchange.
In addition to stimulating the creation of media by youth in Brazil, I intend to provide sampled juxtapositions of US American culture for consumption in Brazil. Baile Funk which was originally derived from Miami Bass beats, has expanded the palette from which it draws samples, but it is still primarily based on US American breakbeats and European electronica. I will draw from my fifteen years of experience as a DJ to teach youth how to create beats. I want to encourage the creation of non-violent rap that will give voice to those that might not be heard otherwise. Ideally this media will be distributed independently through CD duplication and the web. I will also seek other methods of distribution that bypass old economic models where profits are diverted from the artists. In this way, I hope to provide the participants in this project some form of sustainable compensation that will help to improve their economic condition.
My two and a half years of documentary video work in South Asia taught me that this type of offering is welcome and relevant. I was somewhat conflicted to be offering this type of service in a country such as Bangladesh where basic resources such as potable water and energy are in demand, but I came to realize that the camera could serve as a catalyst for events. My intent to document the issues associated with violence towards women led to a series of workshops and performances that used Theater of the Oppressed techniques to bring true stories of violence to light. In Bangladesh, these techniques were adopted by a local youth theater troupe that continued to develop them further through a series of street performances. This is the type of collaboration I am seeking in Brazil, a mutually beneficial relationship that strives to provide as much as it draws from the culture.
My work on this subject has already begun. This past spring term I changed the focus of my course Stereotypes in Conflict, an introductory overview of stereotypes in Hollywood Film, to a more specific look at stereotypes in Brazilian Cinema. I presented students conflicting images of Brazilian identity in narrative and documentary film. Class work consisted of readings, discussions, reaction papers, multi-media projects, and group theater activities. Students were further challenged to develop non-stereotypical portrayals for their own film work through the study of Theater of the Oppressed techniques.
I believe that my proposed study of images of youth in Brazil has the potential to have impact on the local community and contribute to discussions about youth, image, and media. The complexity of Brazilian identity in what may be the most miscegenational country should provide rich material for discussions worldwide. I see my work as an interdisciplinary hybrid of forms. I use theater that is generally associated with fictional narrative to create “documentary” video. My interest in media goes beyond academic analysis to the point of creating responses to representations using the same means of transmission. More importantly I intend to teach youth these methods of expression. Ideally their true stories will be distributed widely enough to present a challenge to the predominant negative stereotypes presented in popular media.
I see your MFA in Digital Arts and New Media with a focus in Participatory Culture as a natural match for my project goals. The experienced gained through Sharon Daniel’s work in Villa Tranquilla, Argentina should be directly applicable to my work in the urban favelas of Rio. The knowledge that I have struggled with issues of objectivity, ownership of personal representation, and long-term relevance for project participants in my previous work leads me to believe that I can benefit greatly from group discussions in the Participatory Culture focus group. I seek new methods of transmission that expand upon narrative forms. I am inspired by the non-linear methods of presentation in the Palabras and Public Secrets projects. My project goal is to produce similar forums for youth in Brazil that can be maintained locally and distributed globally.
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