Does the current
economy and world affairs have you down? Do what the Brazilians
do, abandon all worries, open your heart to music, dance and
song, celebrate Carnaval!
Santa Barbara
Permaculture Network & Soul Brasil magazine collaborate for
the second year with a film event on
Friday, February 20, featuring
"The Miracle of Candeal" with Grammy-award winning
percussionist Carlinhos Brown. The film event
kicks-off the
6th Annual Santa Barbara Brazilian Carnaval, with 3 days of dance,
film, food, capoeira, and soccer (go to www.soulbrasil.com for
schedule).
The “Miracle of
Candeal” is an award winning film by Fernando Trueba about
musician Carlinhos Brown and Candeal, a marginal area in the heart of
Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Brown
returns home to the
favela (slum) of Candeal, notorious for its
crime, heavy drug trafficking, and street kids, to help transform his
community through the power of music.
A celebration of music
and social change unfolds.
The film begins with formerly
exiled
Cuban music godfather Bebo Valdés, whose quest to find
his African roots leads him to Candeal, and ultimately makes him
witness to Brown’s outstanding achievements. This exploration
of Afro-Brazilian music includes appearances by musicians Gilberto
Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Marisa Monte among others. It is a
journey through Brazilian music and festivals from the ancestral to
the present.
The film is also a
celebration of Carnaval in this extraordinarily beautiful and
historic region of Brazil, with images of people dancing in open
spaces, percussionists working drums on hot evenings, a parade of
trio eletrico, large trucks carrying bands on their flatbeds, and
the richly layered rhythms of samba playing in the background.
Timbalada, the first percussionist group in Candeal formed by Brown,
is seen running through the streets 200 strong, along with the
children of Candeal.
The film will be preceded by a short film on the
Brazilian organization,
OPA (Organization of Permaculture &
Art) located in the historic district of Pelourinho near the
community of Candeal. OPA has programs of street theater, art
and permaculture for underprivileged children and at-risk youth.
and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network will talk briefly about
Permaculture sites visited while in Brazil for the 8th International
Permaculture Convergence (IPC8.org).
The event takes place on
Friday, February 20, 2009, 7:30pm at
the Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 E. Anapamu St.
Donation, $5, no reservations needed.
Sponsors for the event
are Santa Barbara Permaculture Network NonProfit and Soul Brasil
Magazine. For more information, (805) 962-2571,
margie@sbpermaculture.org, www.sbpermaculture.org
.