♪ ♪ Fred Astaire sings “Flying Down To Rio”♪ ♪ ♪ A young sailor in these times would sing a new song, ♪ ♪ flying down to Rio, come with me.♪ ♪ Well the lovely Brazilian ladies will catch your eye, ♪ by the light of the million stars in the evening sky.♪ As a kid, I loved the Getz Gilberto album.

With the Bossa Nova beats floating through my consciousness.

Dreaming of flying down to Rio.

I would visualize myself as the girl from Ipanema.

[Stephanie sings] “Tall and tan and young and lovely,” sashaying down the beach front.

At 33, neither tall nor tan, I finally got to live my dreams and fly down to, well, São Paulo.

Hi, I'm Stephanie.

I'm a 33-year-old American filmmaker, and a complete cinema nerd.

I love the oldies, the goodies.

The New Waves or Golden Age, you name it, I'm in.

On my 33rd birthday, I decided to travel the world to meet and document other filmmakers my age.

Travel with me to over 33 countries to meet the storytellers who are dynamically challenging the status quo of the world today.

Together, we will watch their films, hear their stories, engage with their cultures, and perhaps, learn a little bit about life, love, cinema, history, and me!

[in Portuguese] [upbeat music] Paula Sacchetta, documentary filmmaker from São Paulo is a dynamic force not to be reckoned with.

She tackles heavy subjects from torture, to sexual harassment, to discrimination, in attempts to change misjustices in Brazilian society A graduate of the University of São Paulo's Journalism School, Paula has won many accolades, including the Amnesty and Human Rights Vladimir Herzog Award.

Paula is a creative woman; passionate about meaningful storytelling, and she is not afraid to take her documentaries to the edge, to push society to become a better place.

Always, when I start filming something, my friends come to me being ironic, of course: “Well, here comes Paula with one of her ‘light█ themes,” It█s something, because my first film is about dictatorship, torture, missing people.

My second film is about violence against women.

It's not easy at all to talk about the prison system.

I talk about all the discrimination that the young LGBT people suffer in the outskirts of São Paulo.

So I'm always, I say that I do...

I have a very romantic view of the documentary, and I think I make documentary..

I believe in documentary as a tool to change things, you know.

While Paula's friends joke about her documentaries█ "light themes," many of the most influential narrative films from Brazil are no laughing matter.

Within the first ten minutes of Héctor Babenco's 1980 film, “Pixote,” there is a brutal scene of a young boy being sexually violated by a gang of other boys.

“City of God,” from 2002, maybe the most recognizable Brazilian film outside of Brazil, has almost nonstop gun violence from beginning to end, and the 1998 flick, “Central Station,” has our nine-year-old protagonist sold into adoption to a crime ring we later learn will probably harvest his organs.

But don't let any of this deter you from watching these films.

Each one is masterfully shot, edited, and performed, often by first time actors plucked straight from the favelas of Brazil.

With a population of over 212 million, and a territory so large in landmass, Brazil feels like a whole continent rather than a single country.

By far the largest nation in South America, Brazil's boundaries take up over half of the continent and borders every South American country except for Ecuador and Chile.

At times, Brazil's history could make even the most stoic of individuals cry, as one populist regime replaces the next.

Dating back to the 1930s, outdoing each other in measures of cruelty.

[drum music and chanting] Brazil is one of the most populous countries in the world, and comprises one-third of Latin America's population.

It is an incredibly rich and diverse country, in terms of ethnicity, culture, literature, music, natural resources, and yes, cinema.

We met Paula thanks to my good friend Miro Severiano da Silva, a gem of a personality, who showed us around São Paulo's finest restaurants, and took us on a trip to a town 28 km south of São Paulo, Embu das Artes: a community of artists and craftsmen, who set up shop there in the 60s.

When we first arrived in São Paulo, I spent the week visiting historic cinemas and admiring the architecture of old theater buildings.

I explored the history and culture of São Paulo, navigated my way through this massive metropolis of over 12 million people, and fell in love with the variety of street art and building murals splattered across the city.

[drum music] I come from a family of journalists.

So my grandfather was a journalist.

My mother's a journalist, and my father is a journalist.

So I was sure I was going to be a journalist.

I started working at a newspaper.

And when I arrived there, I realized that it wasn't as romantic as it was during my grandfather's time, you know?

And I don't have too much space to tell the stories I want to tell.

And then in 2012, I was sent to Cairo, in Egypt, after Mubarak's fall.

I went there to cover the first presidential elections of the country.

We were making photos and text for them.

And they asked, “Does your camera record videos?” Then, out of nowhere, in the middle of Tahrir Square, instead of taking photos, I started recording with my camera.

So, when I came back, I thought, “Okay, that's a good way to tell stories.” I visited the Pinacoteca museum, São Paulo's premiere art museum, which houses the Resistance Memorial of São Paulo.

While exploring this exhibit, I reflected on Paula's film, Verdade 12.528, her feature documentary about the National Truth Commission.

My favorite of her canon.

The memorial aims “to pay tribute to the people who fought against oppression by being imbued with the ideals of justice and democracy.” In 2012, Brazil created a National Truth Commission to investigate human rights violations, going as far back as 1946.

Most prominently, that of the military dictatorship, which ruled from 1964 to 1985.

The commission released official findings of over 337 government agents, who were responsible for egregious acts.

Over 400 people were tortured, killed, or went missing.

Additionally, what is less commonly discussed is that at least 8,000 of Brazil's indigenous population was executed during that same time period.

And some scholars believe that this number is even higher.

When we, Brazil, created the National Truth Commission, I was like, “Okay, let's do a little video to tell people what is the National Truth Commission.” [in Portuguese] The movie was launched in October 2013.

And for me it was quite a surprise, because it got into many, many festivals.

And then in 2014, it was the anniversary of the coup.

[in Portuguese] We live in a country that doesn't get to know its own history.

So I think, I think if through my films, we get to know our own history, that█s quite a good thing.

[in Portuguese] Once you give someone█s conscience something, I think that's very powerful.

Because, then this person, empowered by this knowledge, can make things different.

I like to tell a story about going to a public school, in the outskirts of São Paulo, to screen my documentary about the National Truth Commission.

And there were 300 students.

It was like a massive screening.

It was so cool.

And after we finished, I was like, “Anyone have any questions?” And a girl raised her hand and she said, “Okay, now that I know this, what should I do?” That's exactly the feeling that I want my films to have on people.

[in Portuguese] If your parents and grandparents were journalists, were they affected by the military dictatorship?

What your truth documentary is about?

Yeah, yeah.

My grandparents... my granddad was arrested, tortured.

So, I grew up hearing these things, too.

How unfair it was.

They were fighting for a better country, and they were just arrested and tortured.

And many, many, many people died, and are still missing.

It's been 50 years.

It's just terrible.

My interview with Paula got cut short, because she was called in to the closing ceremony of the SESC Condalesco Children's Film Festival, where an episode of her TV series, “Families,” was up for an award.

I was delighted to attend the ceremony with Paula, and cheer her on, as she accepted an award for Best Nonfiction Show.

While exploring the streets of São Paulo, I absolutely loved the murals and street art displayed across the city.

Most famously, the Beco do Batman alley, which translates to “Batman Alley,” for its images of the famed superhero.

Three alleyways merge into one brightly painted, open air gallery of wonderful street art.

The tradition of street artists from all over the world visiting this corner of the Pinheiros District began in the 1980s, when the first DC Comics superhero, yes, the very own Bruce Wayne, was drawn on the alley walls.

Students of the fine arts began adding to this canvas, and tradition continues today, by painting over the fading facades from decades ago.

[light electronic drum music] The universe of thirty-threes often collide in surprising and unexpected ways.

As luck has it, my good friend, Narjiss Sakhi, a Moroccan dancer I met in Cuba, has a Brazilian husband, Stephanas, who has a cousin, Gustavo Cabral.

Gustavo is, you guessed it, a 33-year-old movie producer and has worked on some of Brazil's most popular TV series, including “Araunas,” an environmental crime drama set in the Amazon.

Gustavo invited me over for Churrasco and Cachaca, two Brazilian staples of barbecue, and a sugar based liquor native to Brazil.

[in Portuguese] The cinema of Brazil seems to be, either, a direct product of the government, or, a direct reaction to the political upheaval throughout its rocky history, with military dictatorships, multiple coups, and censorship.

In the 1960s, if you asked anyone around the world if they knew of a Brazilian film, they might have pointed you to a 1959 movie, “Black Orpheus,” which won both the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the top prize at Cannes.

But it can be controversial to call “Black Orpheus” a Brazilian film.

Directed by a Frenchman, Marcel Camus, this was perhaps the first feature film directed by a foreigner to be made in Brazil.

Its global impact was significant, as the film's soundtrack introduced the world to a new style of music.

My favorite: Bossa Nova.

While its dazzling imagery set during the Carnival festivals is a feast for the eyes, and its musical score will doubtless melt your heart, “Black Orpheus” has been criticized for idealizing the poverty of favelas and focusing too much on a fantasy version of Carnival, without reflecting on the true realities of day to day life in Brazil.

[upbeat music] Brazilian filmmakers throughout history seem to have a knack for creating new genres.

In the 1930s and ‘40s Chanchada was born; a distinctly Brazilian film genre, which satirically cooked up old Hollywood musical revues, and spiced it with some parody and Carnivalesque blends.

[upbeat music] [Film clip in Portuguese] On a more serious note, Brazil's Cinema Novo movement took off during the late 1950s to early 70s, which coincided with the French New Wave, but tackled much heavier subjects than those romantics of France.

Cinema Novo filmmaking screeched to a halt, however, in the 1970s, as filmmakers were exiled by Brazil's populist leader, Getúlio Vargas.

[in Portuguese] Now, decades later, we are seeing a strong and mighty new generation of filmmaking emerge from Brazil.

[guitar music] Our filmmaker, Paula, continues this trend of making films exclusively about political activist themes.

Do you feel that growing up in Brazil influenced the type of stories that you are aiming to tell?

Yes, of course.

I live in one of the most unequal countries in the world that has the third biggest prison population in the world.

I tell the stories that surround me.

Stories about my people.

Stories about my surroundings.

[Stephanie] What are some of the biggest challenges of being a filmmaker in Brazil?

[Paula] It's very, very hard to be a female director.

Because I have to work twice.

Once doing what I have to do.

And the second time, convincing people that I know what I'm doing.

I wrote this TV series that will be on in two weeks.

I filmed for 46 days in prisons in Brazil.

I won the public funding, because it was well-written.

And, you know, when I was finishing it, and coloring it or making the music on it, I still had to convince people that I knew what I was doing.

It's so tiring.

It's so tiring!

[in Portuguese] Can you talk about, “Faces of Harassment?” How did that idea come about?

In 2015, a feminist organization put out a hashtag called, “My First Harassment.” I got to know through my Facebook some terrible harassments, terrible violence, that my best friends went through, and they never told me about.

I read a testimony about my mother, and I was like, “OK, we don't talk about this,” not even between us, ourselves, women.

And so I was moved by that to make the documentary.

[in Portuguese] So we decided to get the testimonies inside of a van.

In one week, I had 140 testimonies.

Were you surprised by anything they said?

For me it was very impressive how the girls got into the van.

And one girl, she says, “I didn't tell my psychiatrist, I didn't tell my psychologist, I didn't tell my mom.” She saw in that van the opportunity to talk about that pain for the first time.

So for me, that's very impressive.

[in Portuguese] [Stephanie] What does it mean to you to be 33, or in your case, approaching 33 in these next few years?

[Paula] You know, it's like, it's like a moment of decisions.

Well, now, what you do will lead you to what we will be for the rest of your life.

I think 30 is the best time maybe of your life.

Maybe 40, you just start getting too old.

[Stephanie and Paula laugh] Then you make the decisions about who you want to be.

And that's a big deal.

I like it.

As I visited Paula's studio in São Paulo, she showed me clips from current documentaries that she was producing at the time of my visit.

One was a documentary about masculinity in Brazil, where she interviewed a group of men about their personal experiences and perceptions of being a man.

She also showed us a rough cut of her film, "Turn On The Lights," which started as a New York Times Op-Docs, and later turned into a longer piece about the sex lives of people over 60.

I absolutely adore this film.

[in Portuguese] Making documentary for me is more than my job.

It's more than work.

It's part of who I am.

It█s what makes me feel alive.

I think.

It takes me to places I've never been and I wouldn't ever go any other way.

So I hope I'm still doing documentary, and telling stories, and trying to change things around me that are not right.

[singing and drumming]