It was the final day of Carnival -- the winner's parade where the top 5 samba schools had the chance to dance and celebrate one last time. Rights for Carnival are owned by TV Globo, and because our trip was such short notice, we didn't have a permit to film inside the Sambodrome... so we joined the party going on outside. I can't really liken it to anything else... except perhaps when the Greeks won Euro 2006...
So my trusty cameraman Mark and I were joined by the Brazilian Contingent of "What A Booty!" We had been connected to a lovely woman named Lolo, who is an actress and producer in Rio. And probably one of the most fluent English-speaking women in the city, in my opinion! She was a whirlwind of energy that swept me along with her and quite frankly, is a big part of the reason I was able to keep going.... I was just PROPELLED forward!
In North America, my crew is Camera + Sound and if my producers are feeling generous and the need is there, a Production Assistant. That is the number of people you need to make a documentary. In Brazil, our crew consisted of:
- Field Producer/Fixer
- Director (ME!)
- Camera
- Sound
- Sound ASSISTANT
- Production Assistant
- Van driver
and SECURITY!
This last one blew my mind but it wasn't negotiable. It was common practice to hire a security guard for film crews in Brazil. If you weren't safe walking around with an expensive watch or digital camera, I could just imagine how tempting camera equipment would look to the less-fortunate. Our security guard was always a few paces ahead or behind, depending on the situation, and his eyes always watching for trouble (and a gun tucked under his shirt).
We also had to bribe the police to let us pass through the gridlocked streets.... a lot of this went by in a blur, with all of the commotion and back-and-forth jabbering in Portuguese.... Talk about culture shock! Less than 24 hours ago I was in Toronto and here I was, in the midst of CHAOS!!
If we were being paranoid, let me tell you what I experienced pulling out my camera to take a few snaps of the street parties near the Sambodrome. I immediately had a dozen or so eyes on me... it was surreal. Apparently only the uber-rich have digicams in Brazil.
And if people see a camera flash, they get all excited and pose, no matter what!
This one's blurry but this group of kids spotted me from far away and came over to pose for a pic!
I'm sure my eyes are popping out of my head in all of the footage... it was a zoo, people dancing everwhere, music blasting, costumes.... and it was HOT.
I had to stop for some refreshment.... here I am with the lovely Lolo.
Though I was in Brazil to discover the mystery of the booty.... I witnessed something else on this evening. Men comfortable in their sexuality. Halloween in North America means men dressed up as heros... "manly" costumes... or scary ones. But here, as many men were dressed in pink tights, dresses and rouge as women. And this was NOT a gay parade. It was incredible. Truly incredible. All about the glitz, glamour and flamboyance. Here's a man passing through in his frilly costume...
I was also amazed at how COVERED so many of the costumes were. Whereas other Carnivals, for example Toronto's Caribana, are all about skin, Rio is far more elaborate and creative. There were clowns, women in wedding dresses...full-body parrot costumes... I can't even describe what I saw. I'll have to dig out some pictures I find on the web.... I know the 'mulatas' are a big lure for Carnival (the hottest, sexiest women in Brazil who dance on the highest floats in next to nothing), but from where we were filming, all we could see were the thousands of fully-costumed revelers -- through a fence!
Our security guard was so inspired by our mission that he even tried to negotiate with the Sambodrome staff to let our cameras in.... Bless him, but they were running a tight ship that night:
Our back up plan -- squeeze our way through the free stands. It turns out that a lot of "cariocas" (native Rio dwellers) have become disillusioned with Carnival over the years as it's become more commercial and expensive. It is the neighbourhood samba schools that have built up this event with their costumes and floats, and yet, these same neighbourhoods have a hard time affording tickets to the events. So in recent years, a small section of "free" stands have been made available....
Nevertheless, I, in "bumblebee mode", made the best of this exciting evening.
And the Skol is just a prop... though I did try an amazing Churro.... it was very close to heaven, I tell you. (Notice our security guard, always just a few paces away).
By 3AM, we had had enough of the noise, pushing our way through the crowds, and the heat.
I passed out cold.
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