Heliopolis: Art and Education

The community Cidade Nova Heliópolis is the largest favela in São Paulo and the secondlargest in Latin America. Spread over more than one million square meters live about 200 thousand inhabitants. There, there is the Heliópolis Theater Company and the Favela Cinema, two projects originated from residents who merge education, art and communication in an autonomous manner and in a relationship between peers, in which learning is passed on to others and the construction of a citizen is the main objective. Inspired by the reality of the favela, the projects managed to cross borders and deconstruct issues that surround our society, from resistance against social discrimination to the proof that peripheral Cinema and Theatre can be done in a professional and qualified way. The book report is based on an impartial perspective that seeks to portray the reality of the initiatives, addressing from the difficulties during their journeys to the achievements attained. The story of projects idealized by citizens who aim to build an educating neighborhood and spread their work first to Heliópolis and then to other communities and society in general.