Antidote

When crisis takes over a country, its citizens, as history has shown, oftentimes returns to its cultural roots to help find stability in all the chaos. Woodstock, for example, proved that unrest during wartime adds water for creativity to grow. This is the philosophy being promoted at the exciting Antidote: Cultural Actions in Conflict Zones International Seminar taking place in Sao Paulo as we speak, an annual look at how art and culture persist throughout violence and war in rural and urban areas across the world. Documentaries profiling the different people living in favelas across Brazil, what America would be like without immigrants, and violence in Colombia are just some of the films that are being shown at the free event. Sprinkled in between arefilmmaker debates and hip-hop and samba performances (speaking of culture). You can watch one of the more famous docs (above), Falcon: Boys of the Drug Trade, albeit in parts. There’s a weird comfort in knowing good can come out of the bad. The commendable-worthy programming runs till Oct. 23.