Stories From The Hill
Donation protected
In 2010 Sam Liebmann and Lee McKarkiel arrived in the favela of Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro to embark on a project to provide the poorest hill-top community with tools - training in filmmaking and the necessary equipment - to amplify their voice for change.
The first output of Stories From The Hill is the feature length documentary 'More Earth Will Fall', an intimate yet universal story of the love between one family and of their struggle for a better life. Given extraordinary access over six years, this documentary offers a rare immersive insight into the lives of some of those caught in the middle of Brazil’s poverty and violence.
We now want to undertake a tour of Brazil's cities, beginning in São Paulo and then Rio, screening More Earth Will Fall and some of the films made by the participants of the original Rocinha workshops. In each city we will subsequently work with young filmmakers and activists from marginalised communities in Rio and São Paulo to create films about issues relevant to and chosen by them.
These films will be screened alongside More Earth Will Fall at events that bring together a cross section of society, including those who have taken on roles to organise themselves, improve their communities and challenge and engage often neglectful authorities, in an effort to build empathy and active co-operation to affect change.
Today, perhaps more than at any time since the dictatorship years, the state is tragically failing poor communities in Brazil. To make More Earth Will Fall it became necessary to immerse ourselves in the lives of a community and that of one family in particular. While as filmmakers we work in other parts of the world, we remain irrevocably tied to the lives of those we spent a year of our lives with in Rocinha. We feel compelled to ensure that our work has lasting impact and for that we need your help. In doing so we hope you will form your own connection with these communities and through sharing our journey via storiesfromthehill.net reveal more of what we all have in common.
The first output of Stories From The Hill is the feature length documentary 'More Earth Will Fall', an intimate yet universal story of the love between one family and of their struggle for a better life. Given extraordinary access over six years, this documentary offers a rare immersive insight into the lives of some of those caught in the middle of Brazil’s poverty and violence.
We now want to undertake a tour of Brazil's cities, beginning in São Paulo and then Rio, screening More Earth Will Fall and some of the films made by the participants of the original Rocinha workshops. In each city we will subsequently work with young filmmakers and activists from marginalised communities in Rio and São Paulo to create films about issues relevant to and chosen by them.
These films will be screened alongside More Earth Will Fall at events that bring together a cross section of society, including those who have taken on roles to organise themselves, improve their communities and challenge and engage often neglectful authorities, in an effort to build empathy and active co-operation to affect change.
Today, perhaps more than at any time since the dictatorship years, the state is tragically failing poor communities in Brazil. To make More Earth Will Fall it became necessary to immerse ourselves in the lives of a community and that of one family in particular. While as filmmakers we work in other parts of the world, we remain irrevocably tied to the lives of those we spent a year of our lives with in Rocinha. We feel compelled to ensure that our work has lasting impact and for that we need your help. In doing so we hope you will form your own connection with these communities and through sharing our journey via storiesfromthehill.net reveal more of what we all have in common.
Organizer and beneficiary
Derek Richards
Organizer
Sam Liebmann
Beneficiary
