Keswick Film Festival

Synopsis

The 'City Of God' of the title is a notorious slum in Rio De Janeiro. Paulo Lins, on whose novel the film is based, grew up in this place but somehow escaped it. He spent eight years writing his book and it tells the story of two boys who take different paths as they grow up. City Of God is a city where the law and social services have no place; friendships are formed out of necessity and desperation. The residents are outcasts and the young carry out acts of extreme violence, as this appears to be their only option in this moral and economic wasteland.

AFI Festival 2002

Winner, Best International Feature Film,

BAFTA 2003

Winner Best Editing
Nominated for Best Film not in the English Language