O Samba Que Mora em Mim

“This pipe can tell stories – good and bad ones”, says the age-old woman who has some 168 great grandchildren as she puffs away with evident pleasure. Filmmaker Giorgia Guerra-Peixes tells the (mostly uplifting) stories she has come across on her travels through the Morro da Mangueira, the notorious slums of Rio. With just a few days to go before the carnival begins, it’s not violence and misery that takes centre stage, but the rhythm of the samba and the short, refreshing anecdotes about life and love that the residents of this district associate with this music. Guerra-Peixes’ camera follows the characters through the narrow alleyways, peeks into hidden courtyards and captures their subtle movements and gestures with great respect. The Samba Within Me is the study of a small world within a world where, despite poverty, the zest for life cannot be suppressed. (Zurich Film Festival)