Documentaries

[britbox]

Post your free documentaries on this thread.

Conor Woodman does a good series on scams inflicted on tourists in various cities.

Prague:

 

[britbox]

New York:

 

[britbox]

Las Vegas:

 

[Kieran]

They look interesting. I’m getting a ‘Video unavailable - the uploaded has not made this video available in your country’ blurb on the page unfortunately, but it’s a great idea. I wonder if he did one on Ireland?

I see he hasn’t got a YouTube channel but some of his exposes are there!

 

[britbox]

They look interesting. I’m getting a ‘Video unavailable - the uploaded has not made this video available in your country’ blurb on the page unfortunately, but it’s a great idea. I wonder if he did one on Ireland?

I see he hasn’t got a YouTube channel but some of his exposes are there!

I don't think he's done one on Ireland (not one I could find anyway) - but plenty of other places you've probably been to like Barcelona, Rome etc

 

[Kieran]

I don't think he's done one on Ireland (not one I could find anyway) - but plenty of other places you've probably been to like Barcelona, Rome etc

Ireland probably had too many scams for one film. Thanks for the recommend! I’ll try Vimeo and others.

 

[britbox]

World's Most Dangerous Places: Brazil - Caught in the Crossfire & Carnival Wars | Free Documentary​

 

[britbox]

Scam City London



Pretty tame compared to some of the other places this guy visited.

 

[tented]

World's Most Dangerous Places: Brazil - Caught in the Crossfire & Carnival Wars | Free Documentary​

@mrzz - have you seen this?

 

[mrzz]

@mrzz - have you seen this?

No, but I will check it out. Thanks!

 

[mrzz]

Hey, @tented, just watched the full doc. First things first: I hate you, as I surely did not have the time to spare (or invest) on it.

But now that the milk is spilled...

I guess that the thing that will interest you most from my feedback as a Brazilian is about the realism/authenticity of both (completely different) halves. It is pretty real, I will go as far as saying that this is best foreign take on Brazil I ever seen. There are more to it? Of course it is, but it is an honest take, surprisingly free of a lot of bias and/or superficial analysis and/or focus on the secondary/pseudo exotic stuff that is so common out there (in the realm of foreign depictions of Brazil).

It is crazy, isn't it?

Some random thoughts:

I liked more the fist half, about Rio. I don´t know Rio that well, used to go there a lot to work, but I would stay only on the safe (relatively speaking) part of town. I have a few good friends from Rio, work with people from there in a daily basis. The app they mentioned ("Fogo Cruzado", meaning crossfire) is a real thing and I know people that used to check on it daily before going to or back from work (there are a bunch of others). Even from my superficial knowledge, but mostly from the people I know from there, I can tell that the picture shown is a pretty real one. The city is this crazy mix of civilization and savage brutality. People from there in general simply accept such craziness as being part of life.

The governor that appears on the video was arrested not long after that. If I am not mistaken 5 of the last 6 governors of Rio de Janeiro state (Rio de Janeiro city is the capital) ended up in jail.

Favelas are a Brazilian thing, you find it all across the country, but the ones in Rio are unique. They are larger (apart from the São Paulo ones, which are similar in size), there is the geography factor, the population density is absurd, there is a cultural aspect particular to Rio... is a complete mess. Right wing politicians don´t get it, left wing politicians somehow make them grow. Is completely hopeless.

The second half is taken in São Paulo, were I was born, and lived for a long time (fortunately I am out of that hell hole now, even if I need to go there monthly because of work). Some places shown and mentioned there were part of my daily life (the avenue closed to cars on Sundays, Avenida Paulista, where different demonstrators were shown, was really close to were I used to live. So many times I strolled there on Sundays, just to watch the crazy heterogeneous flow of different human types. Actually once I considered the idea of filming it and posting it here.

I have people from both political/social groups (and I mean the extremes) on my social circle, so I can tell you that the characters shown are representative (actually, the Bolsonaro supporters are "light" -- there are people waaaaay more radical, even factoring in the fact that they knew they were in front of the camera). The abyss seems impossible to overcome, but crazier things do happen in Brazil, so you never know... in this regard I am way less skeptical than in the previous one.

Of course I could write a million more things, but you probably already got most of them anyway.

 

[tented]

I guess that the thing that will interest you most from my feedback as a Brazilian is about the realism/authenticity of both (completely different) halves. It is pretty real, I will go as far as saying that this is best foreign take on Brazil I ever seen.

That’s quite a statement from a native Brazilian. It‘s helpful to know that so that I have a feel for whether or not to believe what I’m watching.

It is crazy, isn't it?

Some random thoughts:

I liked more the fist half, about Rio. I don´t know Rio that well, used to go there a lot to work, but I would stay only on the safe (relatively speaking) part of town. I have a few good friends from Rio, work with people from there in a daily basis. The app they mentioned ("Fogo Cruzado", meaning crossfire) is a real thing and I know people that used to check on it daily before going to or back from work (there are a bunch of others). Even from my superficial knowledge, but mostly from the people I know from there, I can tell that the picture shown is a pretty real one. The city is this crazy mix of civilization and savage brutality. People from there in general simply accept such craziness as being part of life.

The statement “We tolerate what is intolerable” stood out. (I wrote it down so that I would never forget it.) It must be scary to have to use an app to determine whether or not it’s safe to go to or from work, but if it’s their norm, then maybe they don’t perceive it that way?

The governor that appears on the video was arrested not long after that. If I am not mistaken 5 of the last 6 governors of Rio de Janeiro state (Rio de Janeiro city is the capital) ended up in jail.

Favelas are a Brazilian thing, you find it all across the country, but the ones in Rio are unique. They are larger (apart from the São Paulo ones, which are similar in size), there is the geography factor, the population density is absurd, there is a cultural aspect particular to Rio... is a complete mess. Right wing politicians don´t get it, left wing politicians somehow make them grow. Is completely hopeless.

That’s the frustrating aspect of politics: no real, significant changes, regardless of who’s in power. Democracies are not democracies.

The second half is taken in São Paulo, were I was born, and lived for a long time (fortunately I am out of that hell hole now, even if I need to go there monthly because of work). Some places shown and mentioned there were part of my daily life (the avenue closed to cars on Sundays, Avenida Paulista, where different demonstrators were shown, was really close to were I used to live. So many times I strolled there on Sundays, just to watch the crazy heterogeneous flow of different human types. Actually once I considered the idea of filming it and posting it here.

I have people from both political/social groups (and I mean the extremes) on my social circle, so I can tell you that the characters shown are representative (actually, the Bolsonaro supporters are "light" -- there are people waaaaay more radical, even factoring in the fact that they knew they were in front of the camera). The abyss seems impossible to overcome, but crazier things do happen in Brazil, so you never know... in this regard I am way less skeptical than in the previous one.

That’s good, at least. I have friends and family who also represent both political extremes. I find it interesting to get everyone’s opinion on the same issue, then try to discuss ways for people to compromise in order to reach a conclusion which is acceptable to everyone. This is nearly impossible most of the time, of course, but I don’t give up trying.

Of course I could write a million more things, but you probably already got most of them anyway.

I appreciate your taking the time to watch it, and to write your thoughts. I hope you don’t continue to hate me too long.

 

[Horsa]

World's Most Dangerous Places: Brazil - Caught in the Crossfire & Carnival Wars | Free Documentary​

I'd love to watch this as it sounds interesting but it's not available in the U.K.

 

[Horsa]

Scam City London



Pretty tame compared to some of the other places this guy visited.

Not bad but I prefer Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness or Perth. I'm talking about Perth, Perthshire, Scotland here & not Perth, Australia. Perth, Scotland is beautiful. I don't know about Perth, Australia as I've never been.

 

[mrzz]

That’s quite a statement from a native Brazilian. It‘s helpful to know that so that I have a feel for whether or not to believe what I’m watching.



The statement “We tolerate what is intolerable” stood out. (I wrote it down so that I would never forget it.) It must be scary to have to use an app to determine whether or not it’s safe to go to or from work, but if it’s their norm, then maybe they don’t perceive it that way?



That’s the frustrating aspect of politics: no real, significant changes, regardless of who’s in power. Democracies are not democracies.



That’s good, at least. I have friends and family who also represent both political extremes. I find it interesting to get everyone’s opinion on the same issue, then try to discuss ways for people to compromise in order to reach a conclusion which is acceptable to everyone. This is nearly impossible most of the time, of course, but I don’t give up trying.



I appreciate your taking the time to watch it, and to write your thoughts. I hope you don’t continue to hate me too long.

I can relate to a lot of what you posted. It is a lost battle, but it needs to be fought. (re: the penultimate paragraph).

Regarding the intolerable, yes, it is very well put. But I would add more. There are more intolerable things out there. I understand that this relativism is the door that people who *don’t* find it intolerable love to use as a cheap way out. On the other hand, you have to realize that in order to go for the root causes.
What would you do? Ask for the people not to shoot? Those intolerable tragedies are nothing else than logical consequences of a whole process (not "the system", not "society", not anything ethereal and immaterial that can take all the blame), and by process I mean all the concrete steps and facts of everyday life. People accept as normal that hundreds of thousands of people are bunched together in sub-human conditions. What in the world would you expect would happen?

Btw what I do hate is my inability to manage my time. Is easier to blame others, even in jest.

Be safe, brother.

 

[britbox]

The following Ted Talk isn't a documentary as such, but something every Westerner should watch.

Africa is not poor. Africa has been raped.

 

[britbox]

The Mole People of Las Vegas

 

[tented]

@mrzz

 

[mrzz]

@mrzz

Video unavailable in my region, but I'll try to find a link. Thanks, Tented.

 

[Kieran]

Same here!