HILL OF PLEASURES

“We used to be islands separated from the continent, with no bridges connecting us.” The Morro dos Prazeres favela in Rio de Janeiro has been in the hands of drug gangs for decades. It was ruled by its own laws. A special unit of the police is now trying to build a bridge to law and order. Mindful of the football World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic games in 2016, they are trying to gain control of the slum and shut down the drug dealing. Day after day the police patrol through the narrow alleys and steps of the “Hill of Pleasures” as if they were in an impenetrable Esher maze. The film takes stock of a peaceful process, remaining fair to both sides without coming between them. Dunja Bialas