Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
One of the largest ever operation carried out against organised crime in Brazil’s capital Rio De Janeiro with around 2,500 police officers and soldiers storming favelas on Tuesday morning ended with the death of at least 64 including four police officers and arrest of 80 suspects.
Local broadcasters GloboNews and CNN Brasil said the toll was more than double the figures cited by the cops.
Footage on social media showed fire and smoke rising from the two favelas as gunfire rang out. The city's education department said 46 schools across the two neighbourhoods were closed, and the nearby Federal University of Rio de Janeiro cancelled night classes and told people on campus to seek shelter.
The raid came just days before Rio hosts the C40 World Mayors Summit and Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.
Brazil is also set to welcome global leaders to the UN climate summit, COP30, in the Amazonian city of Belem from November 10.
Police operations often intensify ahead of major international events, and Rio has seen many end in carnage. In 2005, 29 people were killed in Baixada Fluminense. In 2021, 28 died in the Jacarezinho favela.
Filmmakers have tried to capture this complexity for decades. Here are five must-watch films that bring Rio’s war-against-crime to screen.
Each of these films, in its own way, foreshadows what unfolded again this week.
1. Cidade de Deus / City of God (2002)
A landmark in Brazilian cinema, City of God directed by Fernando Meirelles, portrays the rise of organised crime in Rio’s Cidade de Deus suburb between the 1960s and 1980s. Based on true events, it’s told through the eyes of a young photographer who witnesses the brutal transformation of his community. Most of the cast were residents of real favelas, giving the film its raw authenticity.
2. Tropa de Elite / Elite Squad (2007)
Set in 1997, directed by José Padilha (from a screenplay by Padilha, Bráulio Mantovani, and Pimentel), this gripping film follows Rio’s BOPE, the police special forces unit as it battles both drug lords and corruption within the system. It’s a ruthless look at violence from the other side of the gun. Its sequel, Tropa de Elite 2, dives deeper into political corruption and remains one of Brazil’s most-watched films.
3. City of Men (2007)
A successor to City of God, this film, directed by Paulo Morelli focuses on friendship amid chaos. Two teenage boys grow up in a Rio favela and find themselves trapped in a gang war. It’s less about crime and more about survival, family, and the price of growing up too soon.
4. Trash (2014)
Based on Andy Mulligan’s novel, Trash follows three boys who scavenge in a garbage dump and uncover political corruption after finding a mysterious wallet. Directed by Stephen Daldry, the film captures the energy and moral struggle of Rio’s youth navigating a city divided by privilege and poverty.
5. Witness: Rio (2013)
Part of HBO’s Witness documentary series, this film directed by David Frankham, offers a journalist’s-eye view of Rio’s conflict zones ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. It documents the tension between rapid urban development and the people it displaces, exploring how photojournalists risk their lives to expose state violence and gang control.
