Cinema Seminar:
City of God
Set in the eponymous Rio favela of Cidade de Deus, this film, adapted from a novel by Paulo Lins, follows the lives of young people making difficult choices as they are raised in a challenging, often violent environment. Trying to avoid a life of violence and crime, Rocket (Phellipe Haagensen) turns to the medium of photography, documenting the life of the neighborhood. When he turns to documenting the activities of the violent drug dealer José (“Zé”) (Douglas Silva), he garners recognition for himself as a photographer and notoriety of his subject, whose actions lead to a tragic series of killings.
This low-budget Brazilian film, for which the director Fernando Meirelles shot partially on 16mm film to save funds and cast primarily non-professional actors, was a surprise critical and commercial success upon its release in 2002. It received a hugely enthusiastic reception at Cannes and went on to win four Oscar nominations. It remains one of the most popular foreign-language films and enjoys an enthusiastic following online to this day, having drawn attention to Brazilian cinema and launched a wave of Brazilian “favela movies” in its wake.
