The New Senna Documentary Premiers TODAY In The US !
The movie based on the amazing life of Brazilian F1 Driver Ayrton Senna opens today, August 19th, across the United States. Senna was one of the most successful documentaries to come out of England, ever. For more information, go to http://www.sennamovie.com/ or visit my other post Here.
New York Times Interview With Marcelo D2 & Some Music Videos
Below is part of the recent NYT interview with Brazilian rapper Marcelo D2 titled “Showing off Eclectic Tastes.” D2’s music truly reflects his eclecticism, with its unexpected but perfect marriage of rap and samba. Originally gaining fame with the band Planet Hemp, Marcelo D2 has made a huge name for himself over the years as he has pursued his solo career. Today Marcelo D2 lives in Rio de Janeiro, and i’ve heard that he can often be spotted on the beaches of Rio surrounded by friends. I’ve also put two clips of his music for you to enjoy, one is my favorite D2 song called “A Maldição do Samba” and the other is a great song called “Sou Ronaldo” which talks about the Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldo…
The tattoos on Marcelo D2, the Brazilian rapper, honor not only his children but his musical heroes, including Jimi Hendrix.
Showing off Eclectic Tastes
THE tattoos on the body of the Brazilian rapper Marcelo D2 are more than decorations; they are also a statement of musical purpose and direction. One arm shows the image of the samba singer José Bezerra da Silva above the logo of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, while the face of Jimi Hendrix peeks out from the other. And on his neck is printed the title of John Coltrane’s most influential recording, “A Love Supreme.
Mikael Mutti of Percussivo Mundo Novo makes music with a guitar-shaped instrument embedded with an iPad.
All the styles those homages are meant to represent — and more — are likely to be present when Marcelo D2, born in Rio de Janeiro in 1967 as Marcelo Maldonado Peixoto, performs Sunday at Central Park SummerStage. Even more than most hip-hop artists he has always had wide-ranging tastes and a curiosity to see what happens when different genres are combined in unexpected ways.
“I adore feijoada,” the stew of black beans and pork trimmings that is Brazil’s national dish, “but I love hamburger too,” he explained during an interview in the Greenwich Village town house where he is spending the month. “I love the Ramones, the Dead Kennedys and Bad Brains, but I also love samba, bossa nova and Jorge Ben. That’s why I’ve gone for this mixture.”
AT THE time of his death at age 34, Ayrton Senna da Silva was already being called one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, if not the greatest. A three-time world champion, he was known for his effortless grace and precision on the road, and his baffling knack for racing in the rain. He also looked like a movie star. It’s no wonder that Asif Kapadia, a BAFTA-winning British filmmaker, chose him for a documentary subject.
Senna was a passionate figure, charismatic and full of bravado. He believed zealously in both God and Brazil. Born to a wealthy family in São Paulo, to whom he remained devoted, he was also a generous philanthropist during a particularly miserable economic time for the country. Millions of people attended his funeral (making his the country’s biggest), and Brazil honoured him with three days of mourning. He was also quite vocal about improving the rules and safety standards of Formula One. But it took his death and that of Roland Ratzenburg—both at Italy’s 1994 San Marino Grand Prix—for the sport to get safer. The changes made a difference. Senna was the last Formula One driver to have died on the track.
Fantástico is Brazil’s own, idiosyncratic answer to Sixty Minutes.
Fantástico regularly lives up to its name and satisfies Brazil’s passion for the supernatural and the offbeat. In 1996 it created a major stir with exclusive footage of what it claimed to be two UFOs seen over Brazilian cities. And in 2001, it had a report about a flying woman who was found in a Brazilian village.
This hour-long show features short, always interesting news reports on world events, interviews with international celebrities as well as great investigative reporting and funny clips and out-takes from television around the world. Fantástico in many ways holds a mirror up to Brazil’s attitude to the world and its place in it. As a result, the show simultaneously reflects the country’s seriousness and its surreal sense of fun.
A staple of Brazilian television for more than three decades, Fantastico competes even with the telenovelas at the top of the nation’s TV ratings. In its many years on air, Fantástico has interviewed international stars from Pele to Paul McCartney, Alfred Hitchcock to Bill Gates and even Michael Jackson. The show has started to gain a popular online following due to the outrageous nature of some of their reports, and also because of their international celebrity performances. You will find many clips from Fantástico on YouTube. Fantástico is aired on Rede Globo on Sundays at 9:00 PM in Brazil.
Here are some clips from Fantástico that I think really highlight what this hour-long news show is all about:
Brazilian Politician Uses Stolen Donations to Build Himself a Castle
Edmar Moreira: taking plitical greed to a whole new level
This first one I remembered watching the last time I was in Brazil in 2009. It really struck me because it reveals the sheer brazenness of corruption in Brazilian politics, and the attitude of helplessness that Brazilian people feel in preventing this kind of thing from happening. It is also testament to the fearlessness of Fantástico’s investigative reporting in a country where corruption runs deep and can be a dangerous thing to talk about. Basically what happened was that this small-time politician, Edmar Moreira, a representative from the state of Minas Gerais, secretly built this totally ostentatious medieval-style CASTLE (using funds stolen from social contributions) somewhere out in the countryside. That’s right, it was not a just mansion, but a castle. And unsurprisingly, this castle did not appear in his tax return. “Castle Vania,” as it is called, is reported to be worth more than $20 million reais. Moreira probably would have gotten away with this whole thing if Fantástico’s reporters hadn’t come in and blown his cover, reporting that this castle actually belonged to him. Since the story became so public and controversial, the Brazilian General Attorney (Ministério Público) made some public statements of outrage regarding the matter and promised to investigate. Of course, the case against Moreira is still pending and he has run again for re-election.
An Illiterate Man Enrolls In A For-Profit School In Brazil
Ok, this second video clip is a bit newer, and I couldn’t find the clip of this story that was aired on Fantástico, but it also illustrates the Brazilian media’s brilliant investigative reporting.
Some background on this story is that for-profit “educational institutions” have become a recent phenomenon in Brazil, much in the way that they have here in the United States. It has become common knowledge that for-profit schools use shady recruiting practices (like the way University of Phoenix recruiters were notoriously caught going to homeless shelters to boost their enrollment numbers). Basically for-profit education has no standards and they will let anyone into these schools because students are just like paying customers, so more students means more money. So what happened here was that journalists found an illiterate man who had passed the entry exam of a for-profit school in Brazil. The illiterate candidate says that he “just guessed” on the questions which resulted in him passing the test. He then attended the school for three years. Even though they profess having standards for entry, would a school really admit a student who couldn’t read or write anyway just for their own gain? The answer was yes.
Here’s the link for article from Rede Globo if you prefer to read about it:
And lastly, here’s an interview by Fantástico with Michael Jackson in Brazil from 1996. Search for more Fantástico interviews with American stars on YouTube if you are interested, they have interviewed everyone, even Justin Beiber and Miley Cyrus.
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