Algados: film about Brazilian youth by SIT Study Abroad alum

I first came across Grupo Cultural Bagunçaço and the community of Alagados in the fall of 1999 while on SIT’s Brazil: Culture, Development, and Social Justice study abroad program. Over the course of the semester, we put in many miles traveling around Northeastern Brazil (an area roughly the size of Western Europe!) and getting a first hand look at the way people’s daily lives were effected by the huge inequality of wealth distribution and a legacy of colonialism and slavery. Professor Bill Calhoun guided our discussions as we delved into issues such as racism, poverty, land ownership, infant mortality, and the rich Afro-Brazilian culture. As we began to get a better understanding of the dynamics at play, I became increasingly interested in how development effects youth.

When I arrived at Bagunçaço, (a grassroots NGO focused on alternative arts education for at-risk youth) for my ISP, I was immediately struck. I was struck both by the extent of their poverty and social problems, but also- and more importantly- by their incredible vibrancy, musical expression, joy for life, and grassroots effort to help themselves. After spending a month working with them, I felt like I had barely skimmed the surface and I kept coming back to the question of how I could do something that would have a positive impact on this community.

After returning to the US, the inspiration of their energy and smiles and the memories of a people who have so little and give so much stayed with me. I had the persistent feeling that the world needed to see what I’d seen, and that in an increasingly inter-dependent world, global awareness and dialogue between people from different backgrounds is becoming more and more important. The idea that had been planted during my SIT semester grew into a much bigger project, and in the fall of 2005 I received a Fulbright grant to go back and spend a year in Salvador, Brazil. This time I would be seeing the community of Alagados through their eyes by teaching photography to a group of young girls, and making a short documentary film that would allow one of the youths involved in Bagunçaço to tell their own story.

The film, Alagados, is the story of Renato, a dynamic young ex-criminal turned percussion drummer doing his best to stay straight despite the odds. In Salvador, where social inequality, poverty, and racism combine to push a large segment of people into the margins of society, there are few options other than a predestined future of crime and violence for youth from communities such as Alagados. Renato, with the support of Bagunçaço, attempts to defy these odds.

The film was recently nominated for an award at the International Documentary Association in LA and has played at film festivals in Rio de Janeiro and San Diego. We are now organizing a national screening tour of the film and an exhibit of the kids’ photographs. And, based on the idea of education as the cornerstone for helping people to help themselves, we have established the Alagados Scholarship Fund. The scholarship fund will make it possible for a handful of extraordinary young people from the community of Alagados who manage to pass the difficult college acceptance exam to actually be able to attend college.

If you are interested in learning how to get involved, or in organizing a venue for screening the film, please contact Sylvia at 970-274-4732 or sylviamaria [at] gmail [dot] com.

To find out more information about the project, watch the film trailer, view the kid’s photographs, or listen to music clips, please visit their website.