Rio de Janeiro. September, 2008. Three men stalk the gloomy back-alleys of the city's notorious slums. Spiderman, a 28-year-old drug lord, embarks on a routine patrol through the shadowy streets of Coréia, the sprawling slum he controls. Inspector Leonardo Torres, a muscle-bound operative from Rio's drug squad, inches through the alleys of another shantytown, shots ringing out around him. And Pastor Dione, an evangelical preacher intent on ending Rio's drug conflict, trawls the slums for lost souls. With unprecedented access to some of Rio's most wanted men, Dancing with the Devil in the City of God tells the story of Rio's drug war through the eyes of three men locked into one of the bloodiest urban conflicts on earth. Written by Jon Blair and Tom Phillips
Direction
Blair's unprecedented access to actual drug lords.
Cinematography
Handheld intimacy in Rio's labyrinthine favelas.
Director
Jon Blair
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Director Jon Blair spent over a year building trust with traffickers before filming a single frame.
The title nods to the 2002 film City of God — but this is the brutal documentary response, not fiction.
US
GB
