FEB 20, 7:30pm Miracle of Candeal Film/6th Annual SB Brazi

        Does the current economy have you down? Do what the Brazilians do, abandon all worries, open your heart to music, dance and creativity, celebrate Carnaval, and make sure you bring your Samba shoes!

Santa Barbara Permaculture Network & Soul Brasil magazine collaborate for the second year with a film event on Friday, February 20, featuring "The Miracle of Candeal" with Grammy-award winning percussionist Carlinhos Brown. The film event kicks-off the 6th Annual Santa Barbara Brazilian Carnaval, with 3 days of dance, film, food, capoeira, and soccer ( www.soulbrasil.com).

        The “Miracle of Candeal” is an award winning film by Fernando Trueba about musician Carlinhos Brown and Candeal, a marginal area in the heart of Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. Brown returns home to the favela (slum) of Candeal, notorious for its crime, heavy drug trafficking, and street kids, to help transform his community through the power of music. A celebration of music and social change unfolds.

   The film begins with formerly exiled Cuban music godfather Bebo Valdés, whose quest to find his African roots leads him to Candeal, and ultimately makes him witness to Brown’s outstanding achievements. This exploration of Afro-Brazilian music includes appearances by musicians Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, and Marisa Monte among others. It is a journey through Brazilian music and festivals from the ancestral to the sophisticated present.

      The film is also a celebration of Carnaval in this extraordinarily beautiful and historic region of Brazil, with images of people dancing in open spaces, percussionists working drums on hot evenings, a parade of trio eletrico, large trucks carrying bands on their flatbeds, and the richly layered rhythms of samba playing in the background. Timbalada, the first percussionist group in Candeal formed by Brown, is seen running through the streets 200 strong, along with the children of Candeal. It is a far different Carnaval than the more famous and staged one in Rio de Janiero, it is a street carnaval for everyone.

     The film will be preceded by a short film on the Brazilian organization, OPA (Organization of Permaculture & Art) located in the historic district of Pelourinho near the community of Candeal. OPA has programs of street theater, art and permaculture for underprivileged children and at-risk youth. Santa Barbara Permaculture Network will talk briefly about Permaculture sites visited while in Brazil for the 8th International Permaculture Convergence (IPC8.org).

The event takes place on Friday, February 20, 2009, 7:30pm at the Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 40 E. Anapamu St. Donation, $5, no reservations needed. Sponsors for the event are Santa Barbara Permaculture Network NonProfit and Soul Brasil Magazine. For more information, (805) 962-2571, margie@sbpermaculture.org,   www.sbpermaculture.org.