Release Date: January 17th, 2003 (LA/NY); expands to other cities at later dates

Brazil Release Date: August 30th, 2002, where it was #1 its first two weekends, followed by two weeks at #2; a certified hit. The film received a great deal of unexpected publicity in Brazil when a notorious (alleged) drug lord, Paulo Sergio Magno, was arrested in the lobby of a sneak preview for the film on August 20th, 2002. Much of the film was produced in the Cidade Alta housing project where Magno reportedly controls the drug traffic.

World Premiere: May 18th, 2002 (Cannes Film Festival) (out of competition)

Awards: Visions Award - Special Citation (2002 Toronto International Film Festival); Audience Award for International Feature (2002 AFI Film Festival)

Nominations: Best Foreign Language Film (60th Annual Golden Globes)

Award Submission: (10/29/02) This is Brazil's official submission for consideration in the Best Foreign Language Film category for this year's Academy Awards.

MPAA Rating: R (for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language)

Language: Portuguese with English subtitles. Original title in Brazil: 'Cidade de Deus'.

Running Time: 130 minutes

Distributor: Miramax Films (picked up at Cannes)

Production Company: Globo Filmes (Bossa Nova, Orfeu), Lumiere Productions, O2 Filmes (Maids), VideoFilmes (Behind the Sun, Madame Sata)

Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues (Buscape), Matheus Nachtergaele (Sandro Cenoura), Seu Jorge (Mane Galinha), Leandro Firmino da Hora (Ze Pequeno), Gero Camilo (Paraiba), Renato de Souza (Marreco), Karina Falcao (Mulher do Paraiba), Graziela Moretto (Marina), Roberta Rodriguez Silvia (Berenice), Douglas Silva (Dadinho)

Director: Katia Lund (feature debut), Fernando Meirelles (codirector of Maids; he's also got a sequel to Intolerance in development... seriously)

Screenwriter: Braulio Mantovani (feature debut), Fernando Meirelles (cowriter of Maids)

Based Upon: The Portuguese-language novel, "Cidade de Deus", by Paulo Lins (which is reportedly semi-autobiographical).

Similar Film Note: (10/22/02) Many early reviews compare this movie to Hector Babenco's 1981 film, Pixote, which told a similar story of the hard life of a young boy living on the drug and crime filled streets of Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Premise: Set on the mean streets of a Rio de Janeiro slum (in the "Cidade de Deus" housing project), this film follows two boys who grow up down differing paths (stretched across over 15 years, from the late 1960s to the early 1980s). One, Buscape (Rodrigues), becomes a photographer, the other becomes a drug dealer. The film follows their paths through a series of short stories, as we learn about the violent, often short lives of those wrapped up in the dangerous world of drugs and crime on Brazil's cruelest area.

Here's how the official site puts it:

"The main character in Cidade de Deus is not a person. It is a place. Cidade de Deus is a poor housing project started in the 60's that became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro by the beginning of the 80's."

"In order to tell the story of the place the film tells us the stories of many characters. But all is seen through the eyes of the narrator: Busca-Pi, a poor black kid too frail and scared to become an outlaw but also to [sic] smart to be content with an underpaid job."

"He grows up in a very violent environment. The odds are all against him. But he discovers he can see the reality with a different eye: the eye of an artist. Eventually he becomes a professional photographer. That is his redemption..."

"Buscapi is not the real protagonist of the film. He is not the one who makes the story moves on [sic]. He is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the main chain of events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the story but it is also through his perspective of life that we understand the humanity of a world apparently condemned to endless violence."

Genre: Based on a Book, Crime, Drama, Foreign, Teen, Thriller

Official Distributor Site: Miramax.com/CityofGod/

Official Site: CidadedeDeus.com.br

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