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| Riding the streets of São Paulo |
Ethnicity
and identity are fluid concepts. Much more fluid than you might think and with
a reach that goes beyond borders.
Even though
the Latin American interpretation would be more indigenous, think Cholo and, if
you´re from the US, you will conjure up ideas of baggy khaki shorts, white
wife-beaters and tattoos with Catholic imagery all rolled up in a Latino
gangster or pseudo-gangster look. Now, not all Cholos are low riders but more
importantly when you think of low riders you think Mexican in LA, you certainly
don’t think Brazilian living in São Paulo. But subcultures sometimes move fast
and move far and, believe it or not, in São Paulo there is a small but growing
group of self-styled Brazilian cholos on oversize handlebar bikes or custom-made
low-riders.
More fascinating still, is that the subculture has not leaked down the continent, as you might expect, from Mexican-Americans to Portuguese speaking latinos, it went via Japan. The current street culture in São Paulo can be traced back to Japanese immigrants in the 1990s who came to join the already huge Japanese community in São Paulo and introduced low rider culture.
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| Car-hopping in São Paulo |
South American Cholo is a documentary that takes a look at São Paulo's low rider
culture and in it Sergio Hideo Yoshinaga, 43, the owner of a garage in São
Paulo where many retro cars are turned into low rider monsters, explains how he
was one of the Japanese pioneers of the movement admiring the aesthetics of the
Japanese low rider offshoots and taking the concept to São Paulo. The Brazilian
interpretation is just that, an interpretation, adapted to São Paulo, not just
an imitation of Mexican-American street culture. As such it provides insights
about how fashion spreads, the meaning of identity for both the low rider
himself and for São Paulo, his city.
Here is the
trailer to the documentary:
The film will be released in two versions: English and Portuguese
