Beautiful Chaos: The Favelas of Rio de Janeiro

Brazil's largest favela, Rocinha, has a vivid history. We went to find its true colors.

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[cgomesrj]

I was born and raised in Rocinha. I lived there for eighteen years. I'm honored because Drew and his crew took some time to understand and explore our reality. Thank you and all Cloth Map supporters.

[davidwillian]

Os gringos conhecem o Rio melhor que eu que moro la.

[LucasCunhaRocha]

As for the birds, men like to raise them because of their singing, if a bird has a really good singing it can easily go for more than a thousand dollars. People raise and trade their birds with each other. It's kinda like pokemon but in real life.

[mauroalucard]

A quick tip for Americans: the NH in brazilian portuguese sounds like the Ñ in spanish. So it would be like "Rociña". It's just like the word piñata. Great video btw!

[Yuye]

The woman was my guide in Rio, She is amazing.

[apcy]

Wow. This was incredibly interesting. The female guide was excellent

[hakuqtsukii]

Praying for my brothers and sisters in Brazil’s favelas right now. Hearing about how cops are as bad a thugs over there. The story of Joao Pedro truly left a hole in my heart.

[pwnmasteh]

I swear every video just flys by. They are so engaging I lose track of time and it seems like I just started it and then its over. ITs amazing as always.

[LazyAlternativeBrat]

My family in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, they essentially live on the outskirts of a favela. The people in the Favelas are actually some of the sweetest and most warm hearted people I had ever met. I just wanna thank ClothMap for doing this video and showing how the people and living in the favelas are actually like

[williambjork]

Spent some time in Rio and in my experience the cops are just as scary as the criminals. They are 100% ruthless.

[bornsinner]

"Beautiful chaos" is a perfect way to explain it

[Ninjamanco]

Hello. The vídeo is very good and presents your view of the favela with a genuine point of view. But I, as a brazilian have to point out that the comments made by your guide are shallow on some areas. The reality is very complex and it is hard to separate good guys from bad guys most of the time. Police often shoots before asking, many times with prejudice judment. Drug traffic and how it merges with the people from inside and outside favelas is difficult to gasp. I have to agree that the vast majority of people from favelas are regular and kind workers. If you ever came back to Brazil I would suggest that you get to know some of these people. They love games too. For last, I recommend a few videos you can easily find online that show more about this reality. The docummentary "Falcão meninos do Tráfico" and the movies (fiction based on reality) "Cidade de Deus (city of god)" and "Tropa de Elite". Cheers!

[knowyourhistory]

Dang I would watch 2 hours of stuff about the favelas. Really outstanding work.

[geraldonetto]

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, but moved to the southern region of Brazil when I was six, up until now, me being 23, I had a lot of fear going back, but this video gave me a new perspective on the people and the place I came from... Thanks for this series, and specially this video, it made my day a bit better :)

[matheusc.]

"Pacification" and war on drugs in favelas take a lot of innocent lifes, also, police corruption is big around Rio.

[SusiDoll]

I am a Brazilian-American and I met Marina personally back in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro. I ADORE HER. Went to the very same tour and was mesmerized by the raw reality and her sensitive comments. Thank you for editing this material and uploading it. Beautiful work and hard reality to digest.

[NelsonOokami]

Everytime I watch one of your videos from Brazil I learn something new about my own country. Thanks, Drew. :)
I'm glad you enjoyed your time here with us.

[_pulyx]

Great job, Drew. It's hard to see videos on Brazil and the favelas without patronizing. You achieved something with this.
You're getting a new patron!
Keep at it!

[MrRodimaster]

I'm a German doing voluntary work in Sao Paulo for a year. I recently spent a few days in Rio. It's the most beautiful city I have ever seen in my life. Sadly me snd 3 friends of mine got robbed by 4 guys with a gun in the middle of a day in a street that seemed quite nice. I then saw a few policemen and told them what happend. They just told that I was stupid to take my phone with me and that they would kill all the criminals. I think this just shows how undertrained the police are and how the people in the favelas are neglected and marginalized, that they have to steal to get by. It was an amazing city and I loved it and I will definitely visit it again. But you just have to be a bit careful and stick to the roads where most people are. Thanks for reading have a nice day.

[Glace]

That video game makes the favelas look depressing.