Tag Archives: City of Gold

Front Row to Release Fernando Meirelles & Kátia Lund’s “City of Gold” in Middle East for First Time

Posted on by
Reply

Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund acclaimed Brazilian film is heading to Middle East theaters more than 20 years after its release.

Middle East distributor Front Row Filmed Entertainment will release the iconic Oscar-nominated Rio de Janeiro gangland drama City of God across the Gulf countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the first time.

City of GoldCo-directed by Meirelles and Lund, film made waves back in 2002 for its realistic depiction of the rise of gang violence in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro with a young unprofessional cast.

Front Row originally released the film straight to DVD in the Gulf due to a variety of local restrictions but some two decades later is pushing on with a theatrical release in a sign of how the region is opening up.

Front Row’s planned February 22 release coincides with the 21st anniversary of the movie’s 2003 theatrical release following its Out of Competition world premiere at Cannes in 2002, and also ties in with a global re-release on February 23.

The initiative also coincides with Front Row’s 20th Anniversary.

“The film holds a special place in our hearts; it was our first acquisition, and at the time we couldn’t release it theatrically due to language restrictions imposed by cinemas, and also because we couldn’t afford the budget it needed to stand out, so it went straight to DVD,” says Front Row CEO Gianluca Chakra.

“We’ve come a long way since, and City of God remains an unforgettable masterpiece that deserves to be seen on the silver screen. What better way of celebrating our 20th?”

Front Row is co-distributing City of God with The Festival Agency, led by Leslie Vuchot, who acquired the rights from Wild Bunch.

The partnership is part of drive by Front Row to release a number of classics in the Gulf region that were not presented on the big screen first time round.

City of God was nominated in four categories at the 76th Academy Award but went home empty handed. However, it regularly features on critics lists as one of the top films of all time and is ranked #25 on IMDB with an audience score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fernando Meirelles to Direct an Episode of Drama Series “The Sympathizer”

Posted on by
Reply

Fernando Meirelles is sympathizing…

The 67-year-old Brazilian film director, producer and screenwriter and Marc Munden will direct episodes of The Sympathizer, a drama series adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

Fernando MeirellesProduced by and co-starring Robert Downey Jr., the HBO/A24 series is an espionage thriller and cross-culture satire about the struggles of a half-French, half-Vietnamese communist spy during the final days of the Vietnam War and his resulting exile in the United States.

Described as a “blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping spy novel and a powerful story of love and friendship,” the novel is hailed as a new classic of war fiction and has been compared to the works of Kafka, Orwell, and le Carré.

Munden will direct episodes 5,6, and 7 and Meirelles will direct episode 4.

The main cast also includes Sandra Oh, Kieu Chinh, Ky Duyen, Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Vy Le  and Alan Trong.

The series is currently in production, with filming in Los Angeles and Thailand.

The series is a co-production between HBO, A24 and Rhombus Media in association with Cinetic Media and Moho Film.

Meirelles received a Best Director Academy Award nomination for his renowned film City of God. He most recently directed The Two Popes, which earned Academy Award, Golden Globes and British Film Academy nominations.

Fernando Meirelles Launching Slate of Environmental Films with UK Production Firm ‘Make Waves’

Posted on by
Reply

Fernando Meirelles is shining a spotlight on the environment…

The 65-year-old Brazilian Oscar-nominated film director, producer and screenwriter, best known for hit films The Two Popes, The Constant Gardener and City Of God, is launching a slate of environmental films in association with UK production firm Make Waves.

Fernando Meirelles

Four of the projects on the $20M documentary slate have already attracted talent and funding.

Meirelles himself will direct Soil, a feature-length documentary about the little-known microscopic world beneath our feet, which will reveal the revolutionary solutions that could help avert a planetary food crisis.

The “flagship” film on the slate is Blue Carbon, which will be directed by BAFTA and Emmy-winning filmmaker Nicolas Brown (Serengeti Rules). With 2021 Grammy-nominated DJ Jayda G as its protagonist, the feature will spotlight a movement to grow an ocean forest across the planet to help combat climate change. The film will weave together stories of ocean activists, scientists and frontline communities, and will feature music from Brazilian samba artist Seu Jorge (The Life Aquatic). The film’s development is being funded by HHMI/Tangled Bank Studios (The Serengeti Rules).

The Shackleton Solution will look at what iconic explorer Ernest Shackleton can teach the world about how to save a continent facing a catastrophe. It will draw parallels between Shackleton’s epic Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917) and a planet on the cusp of imminent environmental emergency.

Also on the slate is Law Of The Land from filmmaker Coral Brown, which asks the fundamental question: what if nature, like corporations, had the same legal rights as you and me? The feature doc will follow grassroots lawyers and Indigenous communities as they take the battle for the Rights of Nature movement into the courtrooms and onto the streets.

The slate has been co-created by Meirelles, former UN environment diplomat/producer Alexander and Irish author Don Mullan, and BAFTA-winning producer Sarah Macdonald and former Director of BBC World News Sian Kevill, all of whom will serve as EPs on the slate. Two additional films are due to be added to the lineup later in 2021.

Meirelles, a passionate environmentalist, most recently teamed up with Make Waves, Asen and Mullan on green documentary The Great Green Wall, which debuted at the Venice Film Festival two years ago.

“There is nothing more urgent than the climate crisis,” says Meirelles. “Information is what can turn the tide. Our goal is to make films that not only inform, but that enchant and engage. For my grandchildren and the grandchildren of others, that will be the theme of my work until the day I die.”

Former BBC journalist Macdonald heads investigations and documentary specialist Make Waves with former BBC journalist and executive Kevill.