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True Stories
Season 2009 • Episode 15 • Dancing with the Devil
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True Stories Season 2009, Episode 15: Dancing with the Devil
With unprecedented access to Rio de Janeiro's dangerous backstreets, Oscar-winning filmmaker Jon Blair provides an unflinching look at one of the bloodiest urban conflicts in the world, which leaves more than 1,000 people dead each year. What has previously only been portrayed in fictional films like the famous City of God is now on screen and for real, as Blair follows the lives of three very different men. 'Spiderman', a 28-year-old drug lord, patrols the shadowy streets of Coréia, the sprawling favela he controls. Inspector Leonardo Torres, a muscle-bound cop from Rio's drug squad, inches through the alleys of another shanty town, pursuing dealers and dodging bullets. And Pastor Dione dos Santos, a reformed gangster turned evangelical preacher, trawls the slums looking for souls to be saved on his quest to broker peace among all parties and end the city's drug conflict. Watch True Stories Season 2009, Episode 15 Dancing with the Devil in HD free online. Enjoy high-quality streaming of True Stories Season 2009, Episode 15 and share your thoughts in the comments below!
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18 episodesThe Great Chinese Art Revolution
Think of China and contemporary art may not be the first thing that springs to mind. It's now fast becoming a big player on the global art scene and True Stories documentary looks at this burgeoning industry. Only five years ago China's cultural ministers predicted that the highest living artist would be Chinese and their statement seems to be right on track. It appears that freedom of expression is not being restricted by the communist state, instead it is slowly being embraced by the government. Chinese works are being sold for millions and holding their own against international artists. Communist leader Mao Zedong declared that the only function of art was to serve society, but since his death in 1976, the art market has boomed. Key artists including Zhang Xiogang, Yue Minjun, Yang Fundong have come to the fore and two distinct movements - Political Pop and Cynical Realism - have emerged. China contributes to one third of the global economic growth and with its new found wealth there is more disposable cash around, and people are being granted more leisure time by the government to spend their money. Hence the boom in galleries and art work. The government plan is to open 1000 galleries over the next 10 years. But has contemporary art become a political tool in representing China? An interesting look at how art shapes society.
60 min
A President to Remember
As Barack Obama takes office, More4 looks back to John F Kennedy and how acclaimed film-maker Robert Drew gained unprecedented access to his presidency. This intimate film takes a close look at Kennedy - from young campaigning Senator to a burdened President. "Now, more than ever it's important for us to look back at JFK and his legacy and learn what we can as we continue to create American history today," said Robert of his documentary. "I created A President To Remember from the realisation that young people today have never known what it's like to have a President who is celebrated both within the country and around the globe." Kennedy's decision to permit cameras to candidly record the action taking place within the White House and the inner sanctum of the Oval Office for the first time raised a storm of protest, but resulted in a journalistic breakthrough of historic proportions. The film travels in the company of Kennedy from his days as a young Senator campaigning for the Presidency; to his early days in the White House; through to his struggles grappling with major issues, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the desegregation of the University of Alabama, vehemently opposed by Governor George Wallace, who physically barred the entry of the first two African-American students. At the close of the film, the shock and deeply-felt sorrow of Kennedy's assassination is captured in the faces of his compatriots. The result is an absorbing biopic of the much-loved leader, but in the true tradition of cinéma vérité, A President To Remember draws no conclusions from the events it bears witness to.
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With unprecedented access to Rio de Janeiro's dangerous backstreets, Oscar-winning filmmaker Jon Blair provides an unflinching look at one of the bloodiest urban conflicts in the world, which leaves more than 1,000 people dead each year. What has previously only been portrayed in fictional films like the famous City of God is now on screen and for real, as Blair follows the lives of three very different men. 'Spiderman', a 28-year-old drug lord, patrols the shadowy streets of Coréia, the sprawling favela he controls. Inspector Leonardo Torres, a muscle-bound cop from Rio's drug squad, inches through the alleys of another shanty town, pursuing dealers and dodging bullets. And Pastor Dione dos Santos, a reformed gangster turned evangelical preacher, trawls the slums looking for souls to be saved on his quest to broker peace among all parties and end the city's drug conflict.
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