The director of "Manda Bala" (Send a Bullet), the documentary that won at this year's Sundance Film Festival, Jason Kohn, is Brandeis alumni, therefore, last Thursday he came back to campus with his film and a following discussion. The film is about Sao Paulo, Brazil, connecting a frog farm and a plastic surgeon that recreates peoples' ears. What is the connection? The answer: the rich steal from the poor and the poor steal back from the rich. The documentary focuses on Jader Barbalho, former president of the Brazilian senate and current Congressman for the state of Para, who was in charge of SUDAM, a multi-billion-dollar fund intended for public works projects to stimulate the economy in the poorest of Brazil's interior, the Amazon regions. Through corrupt business dealings, Jader laundered billions from the fund and the frog farm was one of the tools for doing that. The poor didn't get advantage of this enormous development initiative, so they try to make a living by kidnapping extremely rich in Sao Paolo, cutting their fingers or ears and sending them to their families to demand compensation. The rich then buy bullet-proof cars that still don't make them feel safe, take courses how to avoid being kidnapped, carry two wallets - a real and a fake one, and guns. A great film, probably as striking as "Darwin's Nighmare" about fish and Russian guns in Tanzania. Jader himself speaks as does one kidnapper, the talented surgeon and the victim. And the Brazilian music is just great! Jason received his BA from Brandeis in 2001 with a double major in history and European cultural studies, and a minor in film studies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhcgWC3sgM