Brazil: Life in Rio’s biggest favela | DW Documentary

Brazilian favelas are home to migrants and the descendants of slaves. And, they are often located on steep, nearly inaccessible mountain slopes.

There are many assumptions that are made about favelas. For example, that they’re controlled by drug gangs, that life expectancy is low, and that the murder rate is high. But what’s it really like to live in a favela? What do people there need to do to survive? Do they have many - or any - opportunities to move out?

These are some of the questions explored by reporter Matthias Ebert and his team. He lodges with a family in the Favela Rocinha, in a picturesque setting with a view over the beaches of Rio. He meets Bianca, who keeps her head above water with a patchwork of short-term jobs. He meets some of the people controlling the favela. Matthias Ebert can’t reveal their identity. He also meets members of a church, and finds that a new power is emerging in the slums: evangelical Christians wielding their religion as a solution to all problems.

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