Below are some of the Brazilian movies I've seen that I highly recommend not only because they are great movies, but because they can help you learn about Brazil and Brazilian realities.
- City of God (Cidade de Deus), 2002, directed by Katie Lund and Fernando Meirelles. Award-winning film about the slums of Rio in the 1960s. See more details here.
- Bus 174 (Onibus 174), 2002, directed by Jose Padilha. Award-winning documentary about a bus hijacking in Rio. See more information here.
- Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite), 2007, directed by Jose Padilha. Please see my blog posts here. And also here. Fictional film based on real accounts about SWAT and police abuses in the Rio favelas. The U.S. release date is set for late January 2008.
- News of a Private War (Notas de uma guerra particular), 1999, directed by Katie Lund and Joao Salles. Documentary about the origins and complexity of the drug wars of Rio. See my post here.
- Carandiru, 2003, directed by Hector Babenco. Fictional film about the real prison riot and massacre in Sao Paulo in 1992. See my post about it here.
- Central Station (Central do Brasil), 1998, directed by Walter Salles. Academy Award-nominated film about a lost boy and a crotchety old woman who go on an adventure in the Northeast of Brazil. See my post about it here.
- Cazuza, the Film (Cazuza, o Filme), 2004, directed by Walter Carvalho. Biographical film about the famous Brazilian rock star, one of the first famous Brazilians to contract (and admit having) AIDS. See my post about it here.
- O Pai O, 2007, directed by Monique Gardenberg. This movie follows the lives of people living in Pelourinho, the historic district of Salvador, Bahia during Carnival. Good music and a nice glimpse of Bahian culture.
- 2 Filhos de Francisco, 2005, directed by Breno Silveira. This film is based on the true story of two brothers who grew up on a farm in the middle of the countryside who went on to be some of the most popular musicians in Brazil. See my post about it here.
- Zuzu Angel, 2006, directed by Sergio Rezende. Biographical film about the Brazilian fashion designer and human rights campaigner Zuzu Angel, who fought against the abuses of the military dictatorship during the 1970s. Click here for my post about the film.
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