“Alphaville – Inside the Wall”, directed by journalist Luiza Campos

Abstract

The documentary “Alphaville – Inside the Wall”, directed by journalist Luiza Campos, explores urban self-segregation in a high-end gated community in São Paulo, Brazil. Campos rents a property in Alphaville to immerse herself in the residents’ daily lives, documenting their perceptions of security and the limited interaction with the broader urban landscape. The film emphasizes fears of violence, social isolation, and the normalization of uniform lifestyles, including domestic labor structures such as live-in nannies. Security is presented as a dominant theme, both in infrastructure and discourse. The narrative illustrates a stark contrast between life inside the gated community and the surrounding city, highlighting processes of social detachment and inequality. Campos concludes her stay reflecting on the need for urban integration and inclusiveness, suggesting that genuine democratization of urban space remains a distant but necessary goal.