In Brazil, a “favela” is a slum area on the outskirts of the city, usually squatter-occupied. They are home to an enormous number of people: Rio de Janiero alone has more than 600 favelas, the largest housing about 80,000 people—more than many cities, though in considerably poorer conditions. There is probably a fascinating documentary to be made about the factors that spawned these slums, where ganglords and drug dealers hold total sway, but this is not that film. Rather, filmmakers Jeff Zimbalist and Matt Mochary were on the lookout for a story about a community that was succeeding, and found it in the favela of Vigario. In 1993 Vigario resident Anderson Sa and a group of friends decided to form an organization that would appeal to young people and offer them an alternative to a short life as a gangster. That group is AfroReggae, which uses musical performances and workshops as its public side. Zimbalist and Mochary followed Anderson and AfroReggae for several years, documenting its studied development as a force determined to arise out of communities rather than one that would be imposed upon them. Despite the filmmakers’ search for positive messages, though, the most compelling parts of Favela Rising are downbeat, the footage of gang and police violence captured by teens to whom Zimbalist and Mochary had given cameras. These scenes are the ones that validate this documentary as a needed window on an area of overwhelming human distress that the mass media can’t find room for.