An action drama about a young photographer in the Brazilian favelas.
City of God (Cidade de Deus) is a district of Rio de Janeiro that was built in the 1960s to house homeless, poor, and socially vulnerable people. This social project was part of a large-scale government initiative to get rid of favelas, but soon this new district became the poorest and most dangerous slum in the city. Directors Katia Lund and Fernando Meirelles shot an epic work about three friends and the generations of their families who are connected with this place.
Rocket is a young man whose family has lived in the City of God for almost 20 years. He is interested in photography and feels that it could change for the better the joyless and extremely dangerous life of his friends. His two closest friends, Li’l Dice and Benny, are less fortunate and are always getting caught up in bloody gang activity. Rocket has to make a choice between the criminal life and the one he’s used to, with his dream of becoming a photographer and living within the law.
City of God is a social drama and a great movie, depicting the multifaceted nature of a reality in which there is constant violence and injustice, love and youthful levity. It is somewhat like Larry Clark’s Kids, a hyperrealistic documentary about social tragedy. The rapid editing, freeze-frames, and odd angles recorded on 16 mm film give the impression of a cocky, youthful experiment full of the energy of MTV music videos.
City of God was the largest film project in Brazil in the 2000s, and the way it was made demonstrates the reality of the film industry and life in the country at that time. Around 100 children and teenagers who lived in the slums were invited to take part. The directors said that at that time it was impossible to find sufficient Black actors because it was extremely difficult for them to enter the profession. Filming took place in the Cidade Alta favela, accompanied by hired security who knew the local situation. The film became famous worldwide, and in 2004 it received four Oscar nominations and was rated 24th in IMDB’s list of best films.
The film will be screened in Portuguese with Russian subtitles.
City of God
Directors Katia Lund, Fernando Meirelles
Brazil, France, Germany, 2002, 130’
18+