Set in Rio de Janeiro in 1997, the Brazilian police drama Elite Squad stirred controversy on winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival last year for its depiction of Rio’s elite police unit, BOPE, and the violent tactics it deploys in waging a brutal war against the drug gangs of the city’s slums. The film’s protagonist is a BOPE officer who wants to escape the violence, but first he must find someone to replace him in the squad. (Released 26th January.)
