ARTUR'S HOUSE
A documentary series about Brazil's largest criminal group, PCC, told through the story of Ivete and her family. Based on the book and two decades of research by Gabriel Feltran.
Artur's House came about after we met him at a video and editing workshop we were running in 2010 in Rocinha. He attended because he loves film and photography and wanted to take part. It was the beginning of a journey in which we have filmed for weeks at a time with him and his family in 2010, 11, 13, 16, 18. And we want to complete the filming in 2020. We have seen his children grow from to teenagers, then adults, and his home grow double in size. This year, he had a new baby son to join the other three boys and the many informally adopted children that live or spend much of their time at Artur's House. Ultimately it is a story of hope and of a guy doing his best to keep his family safe and well. He is an inspiration to us and his home a place of peace in the middle of an often tough neighbourhood. We want to convey that story to others.
Film
It was soon apparent that Artur was a community leader and an inspiration. After growing up in orphanages and then the street, he came to Rocinha in 1985 and has been building his home ever since. It has become a place where people, especially children, from the area are always welcomed.
For the last ten years, we have been collaborating with Artur to make a documentary that tells of both his past and also which captures in actuality moments with Artur as his community has been going through periods of increased violence and instability. Due to his love of photography, the footage will be a mix of ours and his. Here below are six scenes shot between 2010 and 2018 that give a sense of his character, our style and the story we want to tell. (A longer synopsis below)
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
COMPLETION FUNDING, ABOUT £30,000 FOR SHOOT AND TIME IN THE EDIT.
SOMETHING LIKE FOUR-SIX MONTHS IN EDIT NEEDED
FINAL SHOOT FOR: INTERVIEW MARILHA AND THE SONS; FOLLOW MARILHA TO WORK WHERE SHE CARES FOR AN OLD WOMAN; FILM ARTUR AT HIS WORK AS A DOORMAN IN SAO CONRADO; LONG INTERVIEW WITH ARTUR; INTERVIEW SONS AND FOLLOW THEIR STORIES AS YOUNG ADULTS.
THE POSSIBILITIES OF FORMAT I SEE ARE
(1) A COOKING SHOW AND DOCUMENTARY COMBINED
(2) A SHORT - 40 MINUTE - DOCUMENTARY THAT WILL HAVE MUCH MORE CHANCE THAN FEATURE OF GETTING FESTIVALS.
ONCE WE KNOW FORMAT, WE CAN CUT A TRAILER ACCORDINGLY.
Film Synopsis full
Filmed over eight years, Artur’s House follows 50-year-old Artur, resident of resident of Rio de Janeiro’s most populous favela, Rocinha. He has been building his home there since 1985, learning to survive in a sub-world with little help from government and controlled by one of the city’s drug-trafficking gangs. Artur’s aim is to somehow keep his home the place of peace and tranquility he has resourcefully been able to create for his family and friends in the community.
Ever since he can remember, his dream was to be a father. Abandoned by his mum at the age of two, and with no father, he spent his childhood moving from one orphanage to the next. Aged eight, he went to one he says was worse than prison. Beatings were regular and the children were not fed properly. Artur recalls only getting one piece of fruit as a meal and was sometimes so hungry that he would eat the peel of a banana or the skin of a pineapple.
After leaving the orphanage aged 19, he had no job and therefore no choice but to sleep on the street, where he stayed for over a year. By now, his attitude was formed in a way that no matter the situation, he would make the most of it. And the dream of finding his real family never died. “Every night I would put my head on my pillow and think: ‘One day I will find them.”
A friend on the street told Artur about a Radio station that reunites families, so Artur thought it was worth the long shot. As it went on air, an aunty was passing a mechanics and heard, to her amazement: “My name is Arthur Emilio de Moraes Cordeiro. I am looking for my family.” Soon after, live on air, Artur was reunited with his aunty and older sister. This part may be either reenacted by Artur and his sister, told in interview or the archive found from the radio station.
By this time, the mid-1980s, his mum and other family members were living in Rocinha, so Artur decided to settle there. He moved to the Macega neighbourhood, the poorest in the whole favela, where he bought a patch of land on the hillside and has been building his home ever since.
At Artur’s house, the wooden and red brick shacks compete
with the green, and it carries a certain magical vibe with it.
Fresh fruit, including guava, mango and avocado, grows on
the trees that hug the walls; the view of Rio is spectacular;
The atmosphere and spirit created by Artur and his
neighbours is one of warmth and community togetherness.
Building a nest for his family seems never ending. He prides
himself on not using just any old materials, even if it takes
time. “I cannot afford to buy materials in one go. So instead,
I am building bit by bit using the best materials I can get my
hands on. Even if it takes ten years, that is fine.”
We met him at a workshop we were running in 2010 and since then he has used the camera we gave him. Artur’s House will tell a story of hope through adversity, with the feeling throughout of being with Artur as he sets about trying to achieve his dreams. In the end of 2018, he had his 4 son. Marilha, his wife, began working soon after the brith, looking after an elderly woman in a wealthy area. We will follow her at her work and also Artur at his current work as a doorman near the favela.
Cooking Show
Food is a huge deal in Artur's House and a key part to how his home feels so comfortable for so many people in the area.
In the orphanages, Artur often helped in the kitchen. Then on the streets as an adult where he lived for a year, he cooked for the many other homeless people around him. He eventually became a chef in a hotel restaurant. Nowadays, any time you go to Artur's - night or day - he will offer to cook for you some nice Brazilian food.
In this cooking show, we will see how Artur is very resourceful in creating nice food. But the show will be done in a verite documentary style, exploring social issues as we follow Artur in his daily life in order to understand better his community and his personal past.
House building
This is a project about collective unity and comradeship. It is not charity and Artur has never asked for money to build his home. But what happens is that when people from the outside go to visit Artur they come away inspired by his sense of community. So, a group of us from São Paulo, London, Italy and Rio - all of whom have stayed at Artur's over the years - want to come together to raise some money to go towards materials for the house and then go there to help build. The project will also be made into a short film about the power of collective financing and collective volunteering.
WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:
-MAKE A CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN TO RAISE THE MONEY FOR THE MATERIALS
-FIND PARTNERS WILLING TO SUPPORT