- NEWS FROM A PERSONAL WAR
- A CONVERSATION WITH FERNANDO MEIRELLES

Cidade de Deus (City of God) is a housing project built in the 1960's that--in
the early 80's--became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro.
The tale tells the stories of many characters whose lives sometimes
intersect. However, all is seen through the eyes of a singular narrator: Busca-
Pé, a poor black youth too frail and scared to become an outlaw but
also to
smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs. He grows up in a very
violent environment. The odds are all against him. But Busca-Pé
soon
discovers that he can see reality differently than others. His redemption is
that he's been given an artist's point of view as a keen-eyed photographer.
As Busca-Pé is not the real protagonist of the film--only the narrator--
he is
not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the sequence of
events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the
story, but it is also through Busca-Pé's perspective of life that one
can
understand the complicated layers and humanity of a world, apparently
condemned to endless violence.