Inside Rio’s favelas, the city's neglected neighborhoods 

The guy who cleaned the hill and transformed it into an ecological garden deserves to be minister of agriculture and tourism

I don't think he was romanticizing anything, he just wanted to cover something about favelas that is not just drugs and violence.

The guy who cleaned the hill and turned it into a garden and community center deserved the Nobel Peace Prize! He's incredible!

So resourceful. That guy who cleaned the hill and made it into a garden that now produces fresh fruit- lovely!!!!!

"All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us"

I'm from Brazil and it's not only in Rio where the local state has failed and resulted in the creation of these informal communities. In Sao Paulo there are dozens of favelas with hundreds of thousands of people living in.

I was born and raised in rio, I’m Brazilian and I think it’s good to spread awareness. These happen due to the local state failing, not the people. Brazil’s federal government is corrupt, trying not to solve the problem push it away. Trying to remove the people in favelas isn’t going to work. The police are brutal and harsh and aren’t making it significantly better. Favelas aren’t bad they are resourceful. They need to remove the influence of the gangs, thats what causes the problems. If they can’t to that then the government needs to understand that they are neglecting people and need to give them better *public housing*.

One thing I admire about the Brazilians, their ability to recycle just about everything amazes me. And remember, this is done without fancy-schmancy refineries or warehouses full of equipment to break down and separate the trash.

This could have gone on much longer! I think 30 minute Vox Docs would be great.

"Home to both vicious drug gangs as well as some of the most peaceful, creative and resourceful people in Rio..." This had me crying.

I grew up in Rocinha. It's a place where you need to get along with the right people. Make relationships and fast. That was survival. Yet myself personally I still maintained humility to all people. It wasn't always bad, partly because I had my ear to the movements happening in the favela. I love Rocinha it was home! I then met my now husband and am now living in rural Massachusetts. Such a marked contrast between two worlds.

favelas are a great place if you like witnessing brutal murders and extreme poverty.

Exceptional Journalism here. You guys continue to outdo yourselves. Keep up the good work.

Funny to see this and then you see that the mayor of Rio has been sentenced to more than 80 years of prison last year for extreme corruption while people needs help there...

5:01 - That art was created by a Portuguese urban artist called Vhils, it was done with explosives.

I just love how the people of Brazil are politically very innovative. And learn to live and develop in any environment. Love from India.

It looks like someone didn't know how to play sim city.

It's not only the favelas that are neglected by the government. Most of the brazilians are neglected by the government, the government is neglected by the government. In a situation like that you can see why brazilians are winners, always handling situations without anyone's help. When brazilian competitors cried after winning some olympics categories, the world tought they cry for anything. No, they cryed for all they have been through, without anyone's help to get there, dispite all the problems they face in society..

How did you manage to film this? Isn't it dangerous to walk around favelas with an expensive camera?

Wow, Paulo, the old guy truly needs to be celebrated for single-handedly transforming an entire garbage dump into a garden. Wish I knew of a way to send him a little support. Keep up the good work with your documentaries!

When scrolling through my RU-vid subscriptions I click on the videos with a catchy name that interests me or a cool thumbnail, but any video made by vox, even those that don't interest me in any way, I still click on. Thank you for this great content. I am literally trying new things on RU-vid because of you!

This video shows the real essence of Vox. Thanks guys for you great work. This is real journalism.

I really hope the best and good things happen in Brazil. 💚 from Indonesia.🇮🇩

I have never been to Brazil but I went to Iquitos, Peru and went to the lower part of Belén district. I had never seen poverty at that magnitude. Despite all my problems, I am really grateful. And you don't know how lucky you are, until you see a place like that.

I used to live in brazil. a town named Campinas, near the city of São paulo. These people arent "thriving in creative ways" or being "creativly resourceful" favelas are a huge mess of murder, rape, theft, and prostitution. Ive seen it first hand. This video makes favelas out to be these creative, wonderful little communities. They arent. Its a mass of poor people who need help.

please do more coverage about RIO and BRAZIL. Huge tanks from caring, brazilian people really appreciate that, awesome video!!!

This guy has probably gained so much wisdom through his travels

It’s very chocking that the luxurious Copacabana Palace is 3km away from a favela, and there’s another favela 2km away from Oro, a two Michelin star restaurant. Two different worlds sharing the same place.

So just to make I have this right. Rio would rather focus on global recognition than helping there lower class citizens.

Fun fact: ''Complexo do Alemão'' litteraly means "German's Complex" It has this name because in the 1920's a polish imigrant called Leonard Kaczmarkiewickz buyed some rural terrains in the area wich at the time was called "Serra da Misericórdia" "Mercy's Mountain Range" the local community nicknamed Leonard "Alemão" "German" given the name "German's Complex.

I'm Brazilian and I can properly say that despite many social problems, favelas are magical and unique. Most people who live there are struggling for better life conditions and they just wish a peaceful world!! ❤❤❤

The favelas are really like this.. I visited the Rochina favela for a few days to take photos and this is exactly how I remember everything being..

"What happens when a city develops without the help of the govt?" Visit any city in India,they're all Favelas

I'd really like u see more videos about places like this around the world.

1 dead in 23 arrest? Philippines' Duterte: laughs in 30,000 dead per 0 arrest

Me and my partner visited Rio back in October/November and it’s easily the best place we have been too! We went on a favela tour to Rocinha, what an eye opening experience we had, our tour guide Luiza who was from Rocinha was amazing, always smiling and really proud of where she was from, and that’s the best thing about Brazil, the people!

Flashbacks to modern warfare 2

The term "favela" comes from native plants called "favella" (Cnidoscolus quercifolius). They are abundant in these hills. PS: it's an important knowledge, it was on my sociology test 😂

This is a really interesting....just demonstrates how the past effects of slavery and status quo behaviour is enforced. Resiliency always rises.

Thanks for risking your life for us to show us this amazing video

Great video, excellent journalism, but as a "carioca" (someone that was born and lives in Rio de Janeiro), an advice: Don't go to the favelas. It may seem something trendy and interesting to do, but it is filled with crime, drug trafficking and many other dangers to tourists, to the people who live in Rio and even to the residents of those communities. Its a shame that its so dangerous there, because up there is where the best views of the city are.

As a Brazilian, and more importantly, a citizen of Rio, I can tell for sure that this was one of the few, both national and international docs or news about Brazilian favelas that looked more to the human side of the community. As much needed it is to talk about the government (federal and districtual) negligence upon favelas, and then talk about violence, people and specialty Brazilian journalists, seem the to forget the fact that the vast majority of the people that live there are survivals of the normal urban problems and violence and even so produce culture and happiness. The fact is that it's not erudite culture enough to the people of the asphalt (irony). Thus, we keep seeing national and international news, articles and even official manuals made by olimpic delegations to keep distance from people of favelas that they might be criminals, very, very sad. Congratulations for the nice aprouch Vox, again.

MALAY SUBTITLES Part 2 of 2 05:35 Mungkin geng paling kuat di Rio disebut Komando Merah, sebuah kumpulan yang bermula sebagai politik sayap kiri 05:41 pemberontakan dan yang markasnya berada di Alemão. 05:44 Kokain tiba di Rio pada tahun 1980-an, memperkaya geng-geng dan membiarkan mereka berkembang dengan kekuatan dan wilayah. 05:51 Komando Merah menjadi lebih ganas dan kehilangan ideologi politiknya, dengan fokus sepenuhnya 05:55 mengenai perdagangan dadah dan senjata. 05:57 Fakta bahawa favelas tidak formal dan tidak diatur, itu bermakna 06:03 kedua-duanya dapat menjadi sangat bersemangat 06:05 kerana orang boleh mengambil sikap ini dan membina kualiti serta kreatif dan mengubah persekitaran anda, 06:11 tetapi ini juga bermaksud bahawa anda boleh mendapat tempat yang sangat tidak berfungsi 06:14 apabila tenaga dan pendekatannya adalah sebaliknya. 06:17 Oleh itu, anda mempunyai dua ekstrem ini dan mereka keluar dari kekuatan yang sama: 06:21 tidak formal, kekurangan peraturan, dan fleksibiliti. 06:25 Pada tahun 2008, kota Rio telah siap untuk mengambil alih wilayah Rio yang tidak sah ini. 06:31 Mereka mengumpulkan pasukan khas polis untuk memasuki favelas dan mengusir pengaruh geng. 06:36 Mereka menyebut proses ini "pendamaian favelas" 06:40 Tetapi ini menjadi sangat sukar. 06:42 Terdapat perbincangan besar di Amerika Syarikat mengenai kekejaman polis. 06:46 Tetapi Brazil berada pada tahap yang sama sekali berbeza dalam hal keganasan dan rasuah polis. 06:50 Jam tangan kanan manusia menganggarkan pegawai polis AS membunuh satu orang dalam setiap 37,000 tangkapan. 06:57 Di Rio jumlahnya 1 dari setiap 23 tangkapan. 07:01 Oleh itu, anda dapat melihat mengapa ada yang merasa ragu-ragu membiarkan polis masuk ke favelas untuk berusaha memulihkan keadaan. 07:09 Ini adalah Santa Marta. 07:11 Ini adalah favela pertama yang mendapat kekuatan penenteraman pada tahun 2008. 07:15 Ia juga merupakan tempat di mana Michael Jackson memutuskan untuk menembak video muzik. 07:44 Ketenangan bekerja untuk Santa Marta dan beberapa favelas lain, 07:47 untuk beberapa tahun pertama selepas 2008, 07:49 tetapi favela ini kecil, dan kota ini mendedikasikan pasukan polis terbaiknya untuk menjalankan tugas. 07:54 Ini adalah pengalaman yang sangat berbeza di tempat seperti Alemão dan favelas lain yang lebih besar. 07:58 Banyak favelas yang saya kunjungi yang nampaknya sudah tenang, 08:02 masih jelas di bawah pengaruh Komando Merah. 08:07 Jadi walaupun terdapat beberapa kejayaan dalam penenteraman, 08:10 bandar ini masih mempunyai cabaran besar di hadapannya 08:12 dalam mengendalikan tempat-tempat ini. 08:16 Perhatian antarabangsa yang diberikan kepada favelas biasanya ditujukan ke arah konflik antara 08:20 geng dan polis. 08:22 Terdapat filem dan permainan video mengenai perkara ini. 08:26 Masalah ini mungkin telah diperluas secara tidak proporsional di seluruh dunia. 08:29 Tetapi walaupun keganasan geng tentunya menjadi masalah, ini merupakan satu pengalaman kecil dari pengalaman favela. 08:36 Apa yang saya anggap sebagai aspek favelas yang lebih menarik dan menarik, 08:40 adalah beribu-ribu lelaki dan wanita yang berkembang maju 08:42 secara kreatif walaupun diabaikan oleh pemerintah mereka.

The Favellas, are very similar to what my city, Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal is like. It is an ancient city built thousands of years ago, but modernization just infiltrated and dumped on top of older architectures, structures, without proper city planning, drainages, or building codes. The government never bothered to re-design the city, or mandate any code until the 2015 Earthquake. But still the city continues to increase in density of concrete buildings, unmanaged drains, trash, roads, its too frustrating.

This is a beautifully optimistic sentiment and a gorgeous place but I guarantee lots of the people living there would rather have safety and security than artistic expression given a choice. Even in the less violent neighborhoods the levels of poverty in Rio are staggering. I do like this video but it feels romanticized and a little disingenuous or at least out of touch. Sure, there are clearly incredibly resourceful, creative people but they're just people, bad and good people, nice people, cruel people, people people. And probably many people who would live in boring, ugly public housing in the US if it meant an opportunity to live somewhere with public services and good jobs. this video almost glamorizes the poverty. It really is a beautiful place, though, and a beautiful video.

when it says 1 kill every 23 arrests, at least the brazilian didn't sugarcoat their statistics.

Who's here because Charles Oliveira?

very interesting and realistic documentary. not showing only the cliches but only the creative positive aspect of it , thank you for it

"ENEMY AC130 INCOMING!!!!!!"

Fantastic work Vox! Keep these videos coming

About 10 years ago, I went on a Rocinha favela tour in Rio. While it’s extremely poor, they had the best view of Rio. The favela is pretty self sufficient like an Indian reservation or any American ghetto area. Multiple generations sharing the same tin roof hole

Favelas reminds me of ‘Rio’, ye know. The movie that you watched 8 years ago?

Every time I hear Favela I remember the map from MW2....good times

Thanks for this, Johnny!

I started watching your video yesterday for a school assignment on cage houses. And I have got to say, your content is really good. Short and to the point. And really good presentation as well!

Wow such a nice point of view!!! People usually tend to neglect this part of the favelas that is The good people ( 90% of it) that live there and try their best to overcome the poverty ... thank you for the doc! We Brazilians really appreciate it🙏🏼

The circle in the map at 1:23 is Wrong. It's showing the Rio de La Plata, not Rio de Janeiro.

I'm Brazilian and proud to be one, and I have to say -It's very easy to manipulate information through media these days (as always actually), but Vox did a good job with these videos as they show a more realistic view than most of what life really is like in Rio. I live in Espirito Santo (state next to Rio) which has a very "different" reality* from Rio but I've been to Rio enough times to learn a lot about their reality. It's beautiful, sad and incredible all at the same time. I hope the Olympic games will change at least a few things (positively) in Rio and in Brazil. This is an amazing country, we just need more Brazilians to learn how to love their/our country and own up to the good and the bad.

Brazil is a beautiful place...I lived in São Paulo for over a year and will never forget it but I used to see from a far the favelas and wonder how can government let a major population live in such conditions...I hope I can go back to Brazil someday.

I remember watching a short film that took place in the favelas and there's something kind of beautiful about them

I love you Vox!

This is a romantic view from a resourceful kid. But the violence and drug trafficking in the favelas are not a tiny slice in the favela experience. Rio has one of the highest homicide rates during robberies IN THE WORLD and to misinform like this is an act of complete irresponsibility towards people that may travel to the city in the coming weeks for the olympics.

Thank you Paublo. We are sincerely thankful for your work

Great overview with much love, thanks! “Disproportionately amplified” in the end-that was awesome and so to the point 👏

Neat! I lived in Belo Horizonte for about 9 months back in 2005 and 2006. While I was there I hung out/volunteered at an NGO that a friend started called Contato CRJ. They worked to bring together kids from the favelas and kids from from without, and I still cherish the time I spent there. I am glad that you showed both sides, since it's been a bit too easy to glamorize favelas since some have become more open to the public (e.g. Rochina). They're certainly complex, just like any other city, and it's good to try and capture some of that complexity in such a short video. You did a great job!

I remember a viral video that was about a while ago of a man running and getting shot and killed in broad daylight in a favela while the attackers carry on about their day like it's an everyday thing (which it probably is)

Your intros are so dope , and the music always has a great vibe 👌

That was beautiful. Thanks for making this video!

I hear a lot of Libertarians packing their bags. You sold them on unregulated.

I think we all seen a spy/action movie where a scene takes place in a favela and the guy keeps running through hung clothes and baskets to outrun the bad guy

ive seen this mini doc a few times, and whenever i watch it, i caught myself almost n tears, not because as a brazilian myself, i know how this whole favela concept works not only in rio but throughout the whole country, but mostly because it gives me shivers how many people can, as the video author said, thrive(!) being neglected and unsupported

I love that he's calling a slum an "Informal City"

The way you make your videos can keep me interested long after it ends

Keep it up Vox ... i get excited every time I see a new video released by your team...!

What a *GORGEOUS* garden!! God Bless that brilliant man!!!

The force to unite us can equally break us apart Edit: why do i feel like people are watching the video halfway and stopped right here and there to go to the comment section?

do a video on colombia! I live in colombia and its not how people think. so i would really like to see a video, pleasee.

There's only one more week till the Rio games. And I feel like that money that is used for the games. Could've benefited so many people who are living in the city. I also feel like the games will be a disaster. And this will be the first of the many excuses rio will have to make the city look 'nice' instead of helping their people. I also just came back to Australia from a vacation in the Philippines. I not only felt happy and joyful that I went back to my home country. But also disgusted at myself for feeling unsafe and 'wanting to go back to Aus' after seeing all the neglect and poverty that I saw.

Well made documentary. It's rare to find someone who's not focusing on the negative points when talking about the favelas.

Never thought i’d come back to a video my geography teacher showed us

I strongly recommend the Brazilian movie Elite Squad 1 and 2.

Great video - very informative, very interesting - thank you Vox!

🏆OUTSTANDING!!🏆✨ Incredible, amazing video on the Favelas, and a really valuable honest insight into Brazil 🇧🇷!! 👊🏽🚀😃🕊

great video! i'm researching the favelas at the moment and this gave some really interesting insight.

This is what good journalism looks like. Buzzfeed, learn.

Hi, I am from Brazil and I know Rio de Janeiro since I was born (my father is from RJ). The place is really savage towards foreigners, since you are not expecting a so craftly perfected assault "technique"... be really careful while treading there... I even know someone that "vanished" into the city and no, I am not trying to scare people away. Try to study the places you want to visit, because even the taxi drivers do not cross some parts of the city after sunset (like taking the "red line"): You can end up isolated in a area you do not fully know... Keep on the "asphalt", keep an eye on EVERYTHING you possess and do not trust in "strangers", so to speak...

Vox again delivering with great content.

this video never get old

this is glamorizing a dangerous way to live

What's the music? Really added to an amazing story! Keep up the good work.

3:52 "Morro da Providência", the first favela in Brazil. At the beginning it was called "Morro da Favela", hence the term "Favela" for all the others that came up.

I really enjoyed pausing it through out the videos to get a closer look at the favelas and small things you miss. I been doing that alot lately actually i have to stop turns short videos into longer ones ha.

As a Brazilian it makes me sad that there are so many neglected places in our country, Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful city. Sadly the Amazon rainforest is in a similar condition.

One of the best vox videos

wish the people in favelas safe and happy, ❤BR from CN

Great footage and good narration. Thank you

If that guy made that garden in CA he’d be dubbed a guru and paid millions. So sad this type of talent is often overlooked

I am from India. Reminds me of a slum called Dharavi in Mumbai.

Favelas is a prime example of, when life give you lemons … you make lemonade. Beautiful people of Brazil 🇧🇷 improvised and utilized. 👏🏾

Here after Charles won the world title!