On April 5th, the Global Lives Project presented four 10-minute shorts based on our 24 hour shoots from Malawi, Brazil, the US and Japan in Jardim Iporanga, a semi-formal housing settlement on the southern periphery of São Paulo and home of hip-hip singer Rael Feliciano, subject of our Brazilian shoot. Exhibited publicly for the first time, footage from the first four shoots of The Global Lives Projects was well received by the residents of Jardim Iporanga located on the periphery of the largest city of South America.

Renowned Japanese-Brazilian director Helio Ishii and David Evan Harris, GLP Executive Director organized the event along with other volunteers that participated in the original Brazil shoot in May 2006. Following the screening, Rael and band "Rael da Rima e Time do Loko Sound System." The double-bill drew a crowd of more than 100 from the local neighborhood, along with two van loads of people who came from other parts of the city.

Photos by Anita Goes. Video & setup by Jarbas Vianna, Luciana Onishi and Foz Batista. Transportation coordination by Dan Sansome.

Helio Ishii, the instigator of the screening, salvaged this enormous white sheet after a concert and we reappropriated it with a steel frame that he acquired just for the occasion.

A team of trusty volunteers set up the screen (from left, Helio Ishii, Eduardo ?, Luciana Onishi, Karine "Foz" Batista)

Then we just had to wait for it to get dark.

The crowd was much bigger than what we'd expected.

Audience members of all ages seemed to enjoy the rather unique experience.

A scene from our Japan shoot with Rumi Nagashima negotiating the Tokyo subway.

Community members were invited to share their thoughts about the four videos from Malawi, Japan, Brazil and the US. This gentleman gave a great commentary on how the videos really helped him remember why we should think of ourselves as citizens of the world. Hopefully we'll have the video subtitled and online soon. I was really thrilled and moved by the experience, having really developed this project with US audiences in mind and getting such a great response from Brazil.

Rael's parents, José and Efigênia spoke after the screenings about what it was like to have the crew in their home and to see the videos from other countries.

The crowd came in from the street for the music after the screening. Double-billing film & music was definitely a good idea and should be repeated...

Rael and his new band "Rael da Rima e Time do Loko Sound System" rocked the house after the screening.

For higher resolution versions of these photos, see this flickr set.