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“Because of the current moment we are experiencing in Brazil, this is a story that everyone wants to tell,” says Moura.

Elle Driver has acquired international sales rights to Brazilian Narcos actor Wagner Moura’s politically-charged biopic Marighella, ahead of its premiere at the Berlinale (Feb 7-17).

Set against the backdrop of Brazil in 1969, in the early years of the military regime that would remain in place until 1985, the film revolves around legendary revolutionary leader Carlos Marighella.

Brazilian singer and actor Seu Jorge, best known for his roles in City Of God and The Life Aquatic, plays a 57-year-old Marighella...

Fernando Meirelles’ and his O2 Filmes shingle is boarding Ernesto Solis’ live-action feature debut “The Animal Race,” a dystopian thriller set in Rio de Janeiro.

Budgeted at roughly $5 million, it will likely be one of the most expensive films to come out of Brazil in recent times.

Variety has been given access to a teaser trailer.

Meirelles co-produces the Portuguese-language sci-fi drama with former MGM executive Vinicio Espinosa of U.S.-based 11600 Films along with O2 partners Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Bel Berlinck.

“In an extremely unusual way, ‘The Animal Race’ comments on the path that our civilization is taking,” said Meirelles, adding: “The project is very different from what you see coming out of Brazil and that’s why I decided to embrace it.”

Barata Ribeiro concurred: “What fascinated me was the originality of the story; the script caught me from the first page.”

Solis, who has been the...

Focus Features International and 02 Filmes announced a co-production covering "VIPs," a con-man drama that's begun lensing in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Penned by "City of God" scribe Braulio Mantovani, the film is a fictional story loosely based on a book by Mariana Caltabiano about real-life con artist Marcelo da Rocha.

"VIPs" features an ensemble cast of international actors with Wagner Moura in the lead role. Directed by Toniko Melo, "VIPs" is being produced by 02's Fernando Meirelles and Paulo Morelli, with Bel Berlinck serving as exec producer.

Universal Pictures International will release the film in Brazil in 2010.

" 'VIPs' is a fascinating film about much more than just a con man's life," Meirelles said. "This is the story of somebody trying to discover who he is. There is a bit of Marcelo in all of us, as we always act differently depending on the situation we are in."...

A spin-off of the Brazilian television series that was itself derived from Fernando Meirelles' 2002 Art House hit "City of God", this film directed by longtime Meirelles collaborator Paulo Morelli similarly explores the sex- and violence-drenched lives of those living in the slums, or favelas, of Rio de Janeiro.

"City of Men" revolves around two of the central characters from the series, Ace (Douglas Silva) and Wallace (Darlan Cunha). Both approaching their 18th birthday, the best friends are coping with separate crises: the former is struggling to raise the young son he sired far too early, while the latter is desperate to track down the father he never knew. When Ace discovers the identity of his own father's killer and Wallace finally reconnects with his dad, a hardened ex-con who has skipped out on his parole, it sets off emotional repercussions affecting their friendship, as does a local gang war involving Wallace's cousin in which they find themselves on opposite sides.

Less hyperkinetic and more character driven than its predecessor, "City of Men" ultimately is not fully involving enough to sustain interest, though it offers plenty of undeniably pungent atmosphere along the way. From the rickety shantytowns perched in the hills to the sun-drenched beaches to the music clubs throbbing with loud dance music, the film delivers a visceral sense of its milieu, with the hand-held cinematography matching the restless energy of the characters on display.

Elena Soarez's screenplay blends melodrama, comedy and violence to sometimes awkward effect, but director Morelli keeps the pacing fast enough to compensate for the stylistic inconsistencies. And the youthful cast delivers terrifically naturalistic and convincing performances that provide the proceedings with an emotional immediacy not always evident in the script.

CITY OF MEN

Miramax

Fox Film, Globo Filmes, O2 Filmes

Credits:

Director: Paulo Morelli

Producers: Paulo Morelli, Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Bel Berlinck, Fernando Meirelles: Executive producer: Mariza Figueiredo

Director of photography: Adriano Goldman

Production designer: Rafael Ronconi

Music: Antonio Pinto

Costume designer: Ines Salgado

Editor: Daniel Rezende

Cast:

Wallace: Darlan Cunha

Ace: Douglas Silva

Madrugadao: Jonathan Haagensen

Nefasto: Eduardo BR

Heraldo: Rodrigo dos Santos

Cristiane: Camila Monteiro

Camila: Naima Silva

Running time -- 110 minutes

MPAA rating: R...

• #90.City of Men Director: Paulo MorelliScreenplay: Elena SoarezProducers: Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Bel Berlinck, Fernando Meirelles and Morelli Distributor: Miramax Films The Gist: Scripted by Elena Soarez, turning 18 is a highly-charged moment for anyone but when you’ve grown up in the slum of Pool Hall Hill crammed into Rio de Janeiro’s hillside where life is cheap and prospects are minimal, coming of age has its added tribulations. Wallace (Darlan Cunha) and Acerola (Douglas Silva) are inseparable childhood friends and closer than brothers. Fact: Cidade De Deus (City of God) has produced a spin-off television show and of course, this sequel. See It: The explosive original film was an Ioncinema.com top film of the year - I'm not sure about you people, but this is perhaps the most anticipated "sequel" this year. Release Date/Status?: Miramax Films releases this in limited theaters on February 29th. ...

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Anywhere Road and Netflix's Red Envelope Entertainment have acquired the award-winning North American rights to Antonia, the Brazilian musical drama from writer/director Tata Amaral. Antonia follows four friends who dream of becoming a professional hip-hop R&B band. The film is co-written by Roberto Moreira and produced by Amaral and Georgia Costa Araujo with Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Bel Berlinck and Fernando Meirelles serving as co-producers. It will open theatrically in the U.S. on Aug. 17.

• Quick Links > Fernando Meirelles > Blindness > Focus Features > The Constant Gardener > City of God > Don McKellar Continuing the relationship the fostered with his last film The Constant Gardener, Fernando Meirelles' next project has been picked up by Focus Features – they will most likely serve as the distributor and will handle international sales for the film which should see a 2008 release. Scripted by Don McKellar (who should play a part in the film), the English-language film entitled Blindness is based on the 1995 novel by Portuguese Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, is a philosophical thriller about an epidemic of blindness that sweeps through an unnamed contemporary city and pushes society to the brink of breakdown. Variety reports that Niv Fichman of Toronto's Rhombus Media, Sonoko Sakai of Tokyo's Bee Vine Pictures and Andrea Barata Ribeiro of Sao Paulo, Brazil's O2 Filmes will produce. London-based Potboiler Prods. principals Simon Channing Williams

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NEW YORK -- Miramax Films has acquired North American rights to City of Men (Cidade dos Homens), the big-screen sequel to Fernando Meirelles' Academy Award-nominated Brazilian drama City of God. It also picked up U.K., Australian, New Zealand and South African rights to the film. The feature also is an adaptation of the Sundance Channel series of the same name, which continues the story of two young friends who find themselves on opposite sides of a gang war in the rough slums of Rio de Janeiro. Miramax president Daniel Battsek sealed the deal at this month's Toronto International Film Festival after vp acquisitions Peter Lawson brought in the project. The executives based their decision on a five-minute promo reel of the film, which is now being edited. Meirelles, who received an Oscar nomination for best director for God, will produce the new film, with Paulo Morelli helming a screenplay by Elena Soarez. Morelli, Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Bel Berlinck are producing with Meirelles through their 02 Filmes outfit.