Published on 25-10-2023, Last modified on 25-10-2023

‘Documentary Screening ‘De Jongens van Vila Cruzeiro’ (60’ – English subtitles) – with panel discussion

This activity is open to the public.

On the sense and nonsense of the ‘War on Drugs’ in Rio de Janeiro

Vila Cruzeiro is one of Rio de Janeiro’s most notorious slums. People there live in poverty amid a drug war. After far-right president Jair Bolsonaro took office, shootings between police and traffickers are much more frequent. Violence in neighbourhoods is only increasing. Children are the biggest victims of this. Fabienne Haerinck and Roel Nollet portray the neighbourhood through the eyes of the children who live there and examine the sense and nonsense of the ‘War on Drugs’.

‘The boys of Vila Cruzeiro’ is a haunting portrait of people who barely get a chance to tell their stories. It is impossible for most journalists to enter the neighbourhoods. In Flanders too, a war on drugs is being waged – on a smaller scale. In this film, the makers examine where such a thorough policy can lead and what we can learn from it.

After the film, we will have a discussion with a panel about the themes raised in the documentary, but applied to the European, Flemish and Ghent context.

The documentary is a production of international journalist collective ‘The Redhorse Collective’ and was made with the support of the Pascal Decroos Fund for Special Journalism, Equator vzw and the Belgian Development Cooperation.

This event is a collaboration between Stad Gent, Oxfam Wereldwinkel Gent, UGent Human Rights Research Network (HRRN) en Avansa regio Gent.

Trailer: https://www.redhorse.tv/vila-cruzeiro-project-page

Tickets: sphinx-cinema.be