High crime rates in Brazil did not stop it from being awarded the 2016 Olympics. With much rant about the country’s great achievement, Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro slums still consist of day and night violence. Kids as young as eight years old are involved with the ongoing crimes and drug wars within their territory of Rio de Janeiro. Not only are the kids and teenagers of Brazil, involved but also adults as well. These individuals are fighting to protect not only their drug lord’s territory, but their lives as well as they are at risk daily through constant gunfire. 

In the documentary Noticias de uma Guerra Particular, “News From a Personal war”, directed by Katia Lund and Joao Moreira Salles, one young boy explains that he has one manufactured gun from Europe carried on his left shoulder, one 45- caliber gun in the front of his pants, and a US-made machine gun on his right shoulder.  The war between Military Police and Rio de Janiero drug lords and their participants, is a war with no winners. According to Jen Glusing’s article, “Child Soldiers in the Drug Wars,” within Rio de Janiero ,” the kids have barely reached puberty, but already Rio’s teenagers have picked up weapons to fight in the ongoing drug wars. Brazilian gangs prefer using children to do their dirty work—their prison sentences are shorter.” This scene depicts a small portion of what Lund and Salles want to display about the violent crimes in their documentary.

Lund is an American-Brazilian film director and screenwriter. Her most notable work was as co-director of the film City of God.  The CD version of City of God, released in 1999, also included the documentary  Noticias de uma Guerra Particular. She worked closely with the profound film Brazilian documentarian, Joao Mereira Salles. He has produced many documentaries including: Krajcberg, Poet of Remain, Jorge Amado”, Six Brazilian, and many others. Noticias de uma Guerra Particular has won the award for Best Documentary at the “It’s All True” Festival in 2000 in São Paulo, and in 1999 it was a finalist at both the Emmy Awards and the New York Film Festival. Noticias de uma Guerra Particular has caught the attention of many viewers that explain this doumentry as “Thought provoking, shocking, and real. It is regarded highly as an honest visual documentary and one of the greatest documentaries ever made.”

The film all begins with an image of the Div. Rep. Entorpecentes, “Division Rep of Drugs” is on  the side of the Military Police trucks and cars as they enter the walls of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. They arrive at the slums of the country as the portable, hand held cameras, zooms to burnt Military car and trucks at a Brazilian junk yard. The importance of this junk yard is signified through the visuals of the burning of pounds and pounds of cocaine, marijuana, and other drugs that were confiscate from the Rio de Janeiro very own drug lords. The images and stories of the interviews are some of the most graphic images and informative perspectives provided to give more information on this War with no end. From naked, male offenders in jails as they are being held captive because of their association with the drug lords to military and drug lord wars of shooting in the small, close knit homes within the favelas, these images capture by the director are risky. For they have stepped on crime infested territory with just a camera in their hand to protect them. Lund and Salles wanted to show the root for these fights: justice.

Some families work from 2:30 AM to 10:00 PM only to provide food on the table and meet the need for their family, but, mind you, these are only the lucky ones that actually can get a job. The rest of the Brazilian favela- dwellers have no choice but to find other ways to retrieve money. One drug lord being held in jail states, “Even when I get out of jail I will still rob banks to get money because I see no hope in working. My mother has worked all her life and we are still in the same situation living in the favela.” The documentary provide a sense of emotion and empathy for these drug lords by capturing moments like the one mentioned above of the young man.  The interviewing with this young man it was in a secluded room where it is just them, but what separates the camera from the young man are the jail rusted bars.

There are no alternatives like in the U.S. for favelas dwellers. They can’t apply for a bank or grocery job. They work with what the resources that they have--drugs. The justice they are seeking is for opportunities to arise and poverty to diminish.

The justice that the military officers are looking for from the director’s point of view is to stop drug transportation and reduce crime and violence within the slums. Between the military Police and drug lords, it is a constant back and forth violence as the drug lords and the police rushed towards potential drug lords, surround their homes, as they drug lords quickly grab a hold of their guns, slip out the back window, and run for their lives while shooting. One scene was caught as a man was escaping from his window getting away from the police as a group of five police officers were shooting at him as he tried to escape; he died just 100 feet from his home.

Noticias de uma Guerra Particular shows the endless battle of social justice. As the constant contention of the favela shootings continue to pursue with no solutions being provided to end this battle, it will stay labeled as the war with no end. As mentioned, the drug lords won’t stop selling drugs until they can get a job that could sustain their family and opportunities arise to get out of poverty. The police officers won’t stop coming after the drug lords and their participants until they stop selling drugs. Military officers have understood that there is no solution that can ever be done to stop this crime. Until things change for the favelas of Brazil, perhaps the Olympic’s can bring to the forefront of the crimes of the slums, this ongoing crime with continue to be an expected lifestyle; a war with no end.