a brazilian film directed by breno silveira, era uma vez (once upon a time in rio) (2008) tells the story of dé (thiago martins), a boy living in the slums of cantagalo in copacabana, who at a young age sees his brother being murdered by a drug dealer and his adopted brother carlão (rocco pitanga) being expelled from the favela by gang members and sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit.

determined not to follow the same path as his brothers dé sells hot dogs at a kiosk on ipanema beach, working hard to make the rent - here on the neutral ground of the beach he meets nina (vitória frate), a rich and lonely girl from a nearby wealthy vieira souto avenue - the two eventually fall in love, but the differences in their worlds result in numerous barriers to their relationship.