On the street (Olho da Rua) / by Sergio Bloch.

Format:

Video

Author/Creator:

Bloch, Sérgio.

Series:

Academic Video Online

Language:

Portuguese

Subjects (All):

Street entertainers--Brazil.

Street entertainers.

Street vendors--Brazil.

Street vendors.

Brazil--Social conditions.

Brazil.

Genre:

Documentary films.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (58 min.).

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 2006.

Language Note:

In Portuguese.

Original language in Portuguese.

Summary:

Street life in Rio de Janeiro is astoundingly varied. There are more ways to earn a living than any North American can imagine. In this colorful film, Sergio Bloch, who has a special affinity for recording the pulse of urban life in his native Brazil, presents a variety of performers, vendors and special artisans. The film begins with a knife grinder, who not only sharpens tools, but plays Happy Birthday on his grinding wheel to attract customers. There is an animal trainer whose dogs perform tricks, a street photographer who really wanted to be a student, a herbalist who forages within city limits for plants that bring the Amazon to a city square. Some of the physical stunts are amazing: a one-legged soccer acrobat, jugglers who have 50 seconds at traffic lights for their acts. These and many others tell how they came to earn their livelihood in these unique ways--some are the third generation in their trade, others fell on hard times and needed work. These are not street people as we know them here--they are people who use public spaces as their studios, workshops, stages, offices and food centers. For anthropology and Latin American studies here is glimpse into the unique life of a sprawling metropolis with roots in the past.

Notes:

Originally released as DVD.

Title from resource description page (viewed May 24, 2011).

IDFA/International Documentary Festival, Amsterdam, 2002

International Documentary Festival, Brazil, 2002

Bilan du Film Ethnographique, Paris, 2002

OCLC:

747799283