THE MIRACLE OF CANDEAL

“The Miracle” is the unique Brazilian favela (shantytown) of Candeal, where the young residents gave up their guns for musical instruments under the influence of rocker Carlinhos Brown. After spending 43 years in exile in Sweden, 85-year-old Cuban-born pianist Bebo Valdes makes his first trip to Salvador da Bahia. He stumbles onto musician Mateus leading a church choir, and Mateus takes him to Candeal to introduce him to Brown. It is Brown that shows Valdes improvements that have been made to the slum, which used to be without water, plumbing or electricity. Today, there are music schools and a state-of-the-art recording studio used by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. There is a Bob Marley Street and impressive percussion bands composed of young kids and teenagers. Amazingly, the violence endemic in the favelas reduces significantly. This film radiates love, passion, and astonishing music as the young Brasilian kids hook up with the venerable, yet funky-as-heck Cuban piano legend.