BODHICITTA CATCHING

Over the weekend Austinites gathered to view the film FAVELA RISING, in the Reagan High School cafeteria, a community effort and event with spirited discussion, drumming and dancing. After the screening, students and attendees were able to engage the film’s protagonist and social revolutionary, Anderson Sá to learn more about his remarkable movement and personal journey.

A former drug-trafficker in the gang infested slums of Rio de Janeiro, FAVELA RISING documents the rise of the AfroReggae movement founded by Sá; a grass roots educational movement which rallied the community to combat the drug armies and corrupt military police through the power of music and dance.

Several seminal moments in the film are most revealing. When a mob moves to murder Sá, he refuses to flee as his supporters beg him to. His display of courage leads to assistance from the most unlikely of sources -- one of the actual Favela gangs which helps squelch the violent mob. This is the stuff of heroism and great filmic drama to be sure –- someone making the most difficult of life and death decisions to protect his community. His later recovery from a quadriplegic state is nothing sort of miraculous. That struggle and personal ascension, became a metaphor for the collective mobility of the AfroRaggae movement, both equally as unlikely.

AFS film students are preparing cross-cultural “video postcards” from the event that will travel to the Rio de Janeiro this summer with other students through the Kabula’s Journey program. These video messages will begin a discourse between communities, reflecting on the film, the AfroReggae movement, and community development. Here are a few snapshots from the video postcards and the event:

"Anderson, I’m an artist myself, hip-hop artist, my thing is inspiring people – so what is the first step in creating a movement, first as an individual, second, in the outside world?"

"Thank you to the youth, the community, all of you for being open to Anderson’s ideas, I’m very honored to have meet him. Thank you. It means a lot being a young person to see other people getting involved and taking ownership.”

"If I lived in Rio, I would do the best I could with my life, I would try to help build the community just like Anderson did, I wouldn’t be afraid to die… because you are the community.”

"If I lived in the Favela, I’d want to join the Afro-Reggae movement."

“To you living in the Favelas, I want to thank you for keeping your hope alive.”