News from a Personal War is a 1999 Brazilian documentary film by João Moreira Salles and Kátia Lund, about the urban violence-ridden slums in Rio de Janeiro.
[1] Based on interviews with characters involved in the trafficking routine, the film contrasts the lines of criminals, police and residents of the Santa Marta favela in a daily war that knows no winners, and debates the way society deals with violence.
News from a Personal War had its premiere on a Brazilian pay television channel in 14 of April 1999.
[2] In the following year, it was included in the Official Selection at the São Paulo It's All True – International Documentary Film Festival and won the prize for Best Documentary (Brazilian Competition Award).
[3][4] The film made subsequent appearances at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, San Francisco Independent Film Festival and Vancouver International Film Festival, all these screened in 2002.