Onibus 174

Onibus 174 is a meticulous investigation of and report about the hijacking of a bus in Rio de Janeiro, based on extensive source material: video recordings, interviews with hijackers, police, social workers and even with the masked ‘colleagues’ of the hijacker, as well as all kinds of official documents. The hijacking took place on 12 June 2000 (the Brazilian Valentine’s Day) and was broadcast live for four and a half hours. The whole country followed events with baited breath.Onibus 174 follows two parallel lines. Firstly it shows how dramatic events followed each other while the police tried to keep things under control and failed. Secondly, the film shows the amazing life story of the hijacker himself: a typical streetkid from Rio who is slowly turned into a violent criminal because every other possibility of building up an existence is systematically denied to him.The result is an exiting documentary, that explains intelligently why Brazil and countries with comparable social and economic problems are so violent. The film was given both the prize for the best documentary and the Fipresci Award at the festival of Sao Paolo.