Born in the favela, it has spilled into major avenues and taken over every corner — street parties, underground dances, and upscale nightclubs alike. Funk, more specifically funk putaria, is now Brazil’s most popular music genre, proudly raising its anti-prudish flag and foregrounding the body — particularly the female body — as a site of resistance, desire, and self-assertion. Funk U All, the new film by Ana Rieper (I’ll Raffle Off My Heart, IndieLisboa 2012), brings funk to the center of sex, or sex to the center of funk.
Featuring artists such as MC Carol, Valesca Popozuda, Deize Tigrona, MC Rebecca and Tati Quebra Barraco, Massa Funkeira delves into the world of Brazilian funk and celebrates this genre that has taken national radio by storm, bringing this style from the Rio de Janeiro suburbs to the whole of Brazil and beyond, breaking down social and economic barriers.
The film portrays an important parallel between funk and sensuality, between funk and sexuality, and explores gender, pleasure, sexism, and the relationship with the body, whilst giving voice to the desires, successes and dreams of women in an environment that has always been dominated by men.
Without moralising, Massa Funkeira reveals how, through the body, dance, lyrics and the experiences of artists, funk expresses resistance, desire, pleasure and personal affirmation. A celebration of a musical genre as the vital force of Brazil’s suburbs and of the country’s urban Black culture. (Helena César)
