Joseph Wilson meets the dance teacher fighting transphobic violence through voguing in Rio’s favelas.

Rap de Saia is a documentary that reports, through the voices and rhymes of the protagonists themselves, part of the historical trajectory of Female Rap in the State of Rio de Janeiro. In addition to its historical trajectory, Rap de Saia brings a collection of themes that leads us to reflect on women in today's society.

Gabriel, a 24-year-old anthropologist from a wealthy family from the interior of the Northeast, is gay and in the closet. Following the death of his grandmother, he decides to go to Rio de Janeiro to study the lives of sex workers. Seduced by his object of study, Gabriel will become one of them.

During the opening of a will, the Fernandez family is surprised to learn that the deceased has been in possession of the legendary diamond “The Star of Rio” and that his relatives – who, apart from his daughter Maria, have turned out to be rather dull – are tasked with searching for this gem. Meanwhile, in Cuxhaven friends Max and Harald are preparing for their long-planned diving holiday in Samoa.

Wildlife in Rio

The film documents the old Rio de Janeiro and its great focus of diseases. Stresses the decisive importance of Oswaldo Cruz who creates Experimental Medicine in Brazil, believing that without sanitation, no undertaking could succeed. Rodrigues Alves then started the urbanization of Rio, against great interests.

The film shows the lives of four foreign musicians from different backgrounds and musical genres that after visiting the City of Rio de Janeiro, ended up falling in love with the city, choosing it to live in and becoming typical cariocas.

On the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro during its world famous Carnival, far from the beach and the touristic clichés, there is an explosive contest between neighbourhoods. This old form of carnival features teams of futuristic gladiators that are a surreal mixture of play and menace. A tradition that has its roots in ancient European carnival traditions and in African rituals, they look like visitors from another planet.