In the last 30 years, urban violence in Brazil has reached levels that had never been seen before. The theme, which has been approached by several sectors of society, has not been ignored by the Brazilian cinema either. This article aims to discuss some issues brought up by contemporary Brazilian documentaries on this complex datum of our reality. The following films have been chosen as objects of analysis: News from a personal war (Notícias de uma guerra particular, João Moreira Salles and Kátia Lund - 1998/1999), Bus 174 (Ônibus 174, José Padilha - 2002), Justice (Justiça, Maria Augusta Ramos - 2004) and Falcon: boys of the drug trade (Falcão: meninos do tráfico, MV Bill and Celso Athayde - 2006). These films expose the impact of violence on Brazilian society from different angles: the illegal drug trade and its effects on the people directly or indirectly involved with it (News from a personal war and Falcon: boys of the drug trade); the Brazilian criminal justice and its characters: lawyers, judges, the defendants and their relatives (Justice); and violence as an example of uprootedness (Bus 174).
Brazilian cinema; Documentaries; Violence; Illegal drug trade; Justice; Uprootedness
