Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)

We are given, at first, pieces of the puzzle: a frog farm, enmeshed in scandal; a traumatized kidnap victim; an American learning the art of bullet-proofing cars; a plastic surgeon specializing in replacing ears. Soon, Jason Kohn has spun these incongruous pieces into a socio-political-economic mystery, a whodunit that asks how Sao Paolo, Brazil, became a world capital of violence and corruption. Kohn's film, winner of Sundance's Grand Jury Prize, has a playful tone and a patient camera that's reminiscent of early Errol Morris films (indeed, he's a Morris protégé). But Manda Bala (which translates as "send a bullet") takes on dead-serious issues: class warfare, demagoguery, and the brutality that some humans wreak on others. It's hard to remember a documentary that's simultaneously as funny and horrifying as Manda Bala, an invaluable addition to South America's rich cinematic history. (JS)

Plays with Motodrom (dir: Joerg Wagner; 9 min.), a hypnotic and highly stylized portrait of midway motorbike riders.