In its U.S. premiere, Favela on Blast filled every seat in the house. Granted, there can't be more than 150 seats at The Hideout Theatre and Coffeehouse in downtown Austin, but extra chairs and benches that were brought in were immediately filled. Unfortunately, quite a few of those seats were empty before the film ended, as viewers chose not to sit through the mind-numbing two hours of interviews that was passed off as a documentary.
Favela is the product of hip-hop deejay Diplo (aka Wesley Pentz) who has played a large role in taking the Brazilian funk culture worldwide. With an infectious beat and animated subject matter, I was sure this film would be very pleasing to the senses; I never guessed I’d be fighting to stay awake. With no narration the film struggled to find a direction. Interviews with emcees and deejays were linked back-to-back throughout the film with no real connection between each one. They had great stories to tell, but they were lost in the meandering thoughts of the artists.
This film is in desperate need of an editor and a central story based around one or more of the characters. Instead of seeing how much this culture was a part of life in the Favela we just heard about it. Viewers never understood why we were supposed to care about what these people were saying.
--Mark Collins
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