Fernando Meirelles

Visions from Brazil

This interview appeared in the April 2009 MIPTV edition of World Screen.

For years a respected television and film director in Brazil, Fernando Meirelles landed firmly on the global map with City of God, based on the Paulo Lins novel Cidade de Deus. A hit at the Cannes Film Festival, the drama, about two best friends growing up in a violent Rio de Janeiro slum, was picked up for distribution by Miramax and went on to score four Academy Award nominations, including one for Meirelles as best director. The film also spawned a TV Globo series, City of Men, which was acquired by a number of international broadcasters, including Sundance in the U.S.
Meirelles’s Oscar nods caught the attention of studios in the U.S. and the U.K., and he was soon tapped to helm The Constant Gardner with Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz. While manning a prolific TV slate in Brazil through his O2 Filmes venture, the country’s largest independent producer, Meirelles continues to work on international projects, most recently Blindness with Julianne Moore. He recently spoke with World Screen about the trajectory of his career.

WS: What was your reaction to the international success of City of God?
MEIRELLES: The movie’s impact around the world was something I never expected. It was supposed to be a low-budget film in Portuguese with nonprofessional actors geared toward a Brazilian audience. Indeed it opened doors for me on the international front. None of it was planned, but the opportunity presented itself and I took it.

WS: The stories in City of God and City of Men are reflections of the reality in some parts of Rio de Janeiro. Do you think these productions raised the awareness of life in the favelas among Brazilians?
MEIRELLES: I think so. After City of God, many other movies were made about exclusion in Brazil’s big cities. It became sort of a genre here and, in some way, showed the country a part of our society that has been completely neglected. The next step should be to bring change to this situation.

WS: You once stated that you wanted to become for Brazil what Pedro Almodóvar is to Spain, making great local productions for the international audience.
MEIRELLES: I mentioned that in reference to the way he finances his movies (Pepi, Luci, Bom and the Other Girls; Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown; High Heels). He directs Spanish movies very independently and was able to present them around the world and support young filmmakers.

WS: With The Constant Gardner, how was the experience of working on your first film for the global market?
MEIRELLES: The Constant Gardener was an independent British film produced with Focus as one of its investors. The experience with the producers of the movie was fantastic; Simon Channing Williams produces all of Mike Leigh’s films and respects the work of directors a lot.

WS: Your policy has always been to write, produce and direct independently. How much freedom did you have working with a Hollywood studio, Miramax?
MEIRELLES: Miramax bought City of God after it was edited, and they didn’t participate in any creative decisions. In Blindness, they helped me with the final process, sending me very good [notes] on the editing. It was a wonderful process. I had the final cut, but I was interested in their comments because they’re very smart and experienced.

WS:  Tell us about Blindness, with Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover?
MEIRELLES: It’s a very bleak story written by José Saramago (La balsa de piedra). I think the movie is lighter than the book, but it is still very complex. It shows just how primitive man can be even after 6,000 years of civilization.

WS: You’re working on the television series Som e Fúria, with Globo for broadcast this year, as well as the documentary Art is Garbage. What can you tell us about these projects?
MEIRELLES: Som e Fúria is an adaptation from a Canadian series called Slings and Arrows that I saw and got the rights to. It’s the story of a Shakespearian theater company that is presenting Hamlet and then Macbeth. Humor with some drama, very smart. Art Is Garbage is a documentary on Vik Muniz, a Brazilian artist. I’m one of the producers.

WS: You studied to be an architect and then worked in TV. What prompted the decision to start making movies?

MEIRELLES: I always wanted to do film, but during the early ’80s, after leaving school, there was hardly any funding for Brazilian movies, so I began working independently for television and making some experimental videos.