From Tod’s Facebook page: 

The longer I spend in Rio, the more surprising it becomes. Gave my keynote talk and 3-hour workshop yesterday at the Rio Film Festival, then walked in the pouring rain (guided by the head of the Festival) to find outdoors-underground samba (which wasn’t happening because of the rain), but did run into a massive protest and conflict between young people and military police, complete with tear gas and bombs. Believe me, I couldn’t make this up….. — in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Alex McDowell preparing for our presentations yesterday at the Rio Film Festival.

Poster in the dilapidated dock area of Rio…soon to be not dilapidated at all. Picture shows the enormous renovation underway, construcion of Calaytrava (Museum of Tomorrow”, and destruction of the Bladerunner-type overhead highway, like the Big Dig. All for the 2016 Olympics!

Under the elevated highway near the Rio docklands.

Amazing angles and juxtapositions in the moody, mysterious Rio docklands. The elevated highway is soon to disappear, and this will all be parkland, museums and condos. Good???!!!

Crazy textured buildings – many abandoned – near the Rio docklands, right next to the old downtown…equally atmospheric and slightly threatening.

New-style trash cans near the Rio docklands. Apparently the can is just an opening to a huge undergorund container; the truck picks up the whole thing and can empty enormous amounts of trash in one go.

At the Rio port, site of the new “Museum of the Future” by Calatrava, and all kinds of other amenities in construction. Apparently every section of the Calatrava building has to be constructed in-place; each is unique, nothing is standardized. Watch out!!!

Old ship passenger terminal at Rio port.

Site of the under-construction Olympic City at Rio port.

Amazing new Rio Art Museum (MAR) that combines an old bank building with a super-modern one, floating roof connecting the two. Near the docklands.

Lobby to the new MAR, Rio.

Unbelievable floating roof at the new Rio Art Museum

Inside the MAR lobby, a miniature model of the Rio faveklas, built by people who live in the favelas.

Crumbling old Rio buildings, near the port and in the pouring rain.

Justice hall in Rio last evening, with protester tents and military police all over. There was a demonstration of 200,000 people that we walked into, all slightly subdued because of the rain…picking up as the evening wore on.

Went to an old, well-known restaurant in hip, funky Lapa, only to have the demonstration spill into exactly the location where we were. Protestors streamed by, follwed by scores of police. We watched the city burning on TV inside the restaurant.

My host, Pedro de Souza, explaining the ins and outs of Brazil politics and armed demonstrations.

Stuck inside our restaurant with bars on the doors as demonstrations surged outside, tear gas, bombs and all.

Rio burning right outside out restaurant, seen on TV near our table.