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Fernando Meirelles

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Fernando Meirelles
Meirelles at the Austrian premiere of 360 in 2012
Born
Fernando Ferreira Meirelles

(1955-11-09) 9 November 1955 (age 68)
São Paulo, Brazil
Alma materUniversity of São Paulo
Occupations
  • Film director
  • producer
  • screenwriter
Years active1982–present
Spouse
Cecilia Teivelis
(m. 1983)
Children2
AwardsList

Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (Brazilian Portuguese: [feʁˈnɐ̃du mejˈɾɛlis]; born 9 November 1955) is a Brazilian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-directing the film City of God, released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the U.S. by Miramax Films, which received international critical acclaim. For his work in the film, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director in 2005 for The Constant Gardener, which garnered the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Rachel Weisz. He also directed the 2008 adaptation of José Saramago's novel Blindness, and the 2011 film 360. In 2019, Meirelles directed The Two Popes for Netflix.

In television, Meirelles directed and produced in Brazil the HBO original series Joint Venture. In 2024, he led directing work for the crime series Sugar and the historical miniseries The Sympathizer.

Early life

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"A great tragedy for the family. For a long time, it was a taboo. No one mentioned it. I was four when it happened, but I still remember him."

Meirelles about his brother's death.[1]

Meirelles was born in São Paulo, Brazil.[2] Meirelles' father, José de Souza Meirelles, is a gastroenterologist who travelled regularly to Asia and North America (among other regions of the world), which gave Fernando the opportunity for contact with different cultures and places. His mother, Sônia Junqueira Ferreira, worked in landscape architecture and interior design.[3]

Fernando is the second youngest of four children. He saw his older brother, José Marcos, die in a car-bike accident when he was 4 years old. His two sisters, Márcia and Silvinha, graduated in theater and psychology, respectively. Fernando grew up in Alto dos Pinheiros, West Zone of São Paulo, and spent every vacation on the farms of relatives from both sides of his family. "Even I have a farm. I don't know why I bought it", he was quoted as saying.[4]

His first experience with cinema was with his father, who often directed 8 mm films during his job at the university. He produced mostly western and thriller parodies, using his relatives and friends as actors. At 11, in 1967, Fernando spent a year in the United States in California, where he had contact with the hippie movement, which impressed him. At 13, with a borrowed Super 8 camera, Meirelles started producing small films, inspired by Norman McLaren's animations.[citation needed]

Career

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He studied at the Architecture and Urbanism College in the University of São Paulo during the 1980s. His graduation work was done in the form of a film, instead of the traditional designs of the other students: he went to Japan and bought professional video equipment to do the job. He presented it and graduated with the minimum acceptable grade.

While studying architecture at the University of queens mary, Meirelles became involved in experimental film-making. After several years in independent television, he became an advertisement film director. He is still one of the partners of O2 Filmes, the biggest Brazilian advertisement firm, which has produced City of God, Domésticas and Viva Voz.

Along with four friends (Paul Morelli, Marcelo Machado, Dário Vizeu and Bob Salatini), Meirelles began his career with experimental films. Eventually, they formed an independent production company Olhar Eletrônico. Subsequently, new friends joined the group: Renato Barbiere, Agilson Araujo, Toniko and Marcelo Tas. In 1982, the company aired TV programs on current affairs, as well as the children series Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum, with 180 episodes. In addition to obtaining high ratings, they also introduced a refreshing humorous informality in news reporting.

By the end of the 1980s, he became increasingly interested on the advertising market. In 1990, Meirelles and friends closed down Olhar Eletrônico, opening an advertising business, O2 Films. One decade was enough for him to become one of the most important and sought-after advertising producers.

In 1997, Meirelles read the book Paulo Lins's City of God. He decided to adapt it to film, which was done in 2002, and decided that the actors in it would be selected among the inhabitants of slums. In a final triage, from 400 children, they selected 200, with whom they worked for the shooting of the film. The filming was done with a professional crew. The film was a national and international success.

In 2004, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for City of God. Also, at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, the movie received four nominations: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing.

With the recognition, he was offered a job in Hollywood. With The Constant Gardener, he again received critical acclaim, receiving several nominations, including for four Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Rachel Weisz went on to win the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Meirelles insisted that the soundtrack be based on the music of African countries, and most of the filming was done in Kenya.

In 2007, he began shooting Blindness, a film adaptation of Nobel-prize winner José Saramago's book, Ensaio Sobre a Cegueira. The film, which was released in 2008, was the opening film of the Cannes Film Festival.

He was one of the creative directors of the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, working on a shoestring budget equivalent to less than £5 million.[5]

In 2019, Meirelles directed and produced the HBO original series Joint Venture, in which marijuana has been legalized in Brazil. The series follows the story of a young drug trafficker from São Paulo who, after the legalization of marijuana in Brazil, decides to abandon his life on crime and sell his weed legally along with an inexperienced investor partner. In the same year, he directed the drama film The Two Popes for Netflix, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce.

Personal life

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Meirelles is a Catholic.[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Documentary shorts

Year Title Notes
1983 Marly Normal Co-directed with Marcelo Machado.
Brasília
1986 Olhar Eletrônico Segment director

Feature film

Year Title Director Writer Producer Notes
1998 Menino Maluquinho 2: A Aventura Yes No No Co-directed with Fabrizia Pinto
2001 Maids Yes Yes No Co-directed with Nando Olival
2002 City of God Yes No No Co-directed with Kátia Lund
2005 The Constant Gardener Yes No No
2008 Blindness Yes No No
2009 Som & Fúria: O Filme Yes Yes Yes Co-directed with Toniko Melo
2011 360 Yes No No
2019 The Two Popes Yes No No

Short film

Year Title Notes
1998 E no Meio Passa Um Trem Co-directed with Nando Olival
2014 A Musa Segment of Rio, I Love You

Television

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Year Title Director Producer Writer Notes
1989 Rá-Tim-Bum Yes No Yes Directed 31 episodes
2013 A Verdade de Cada Um[7] No Yes No
2015 Os Experientes[8] Yes Yes No 2 episodes
Felizes para Sempre? Yes Yes No 5 episodes
2019 Pico da Neblina Yes Yes No 2 episodes
2024 Sugar Yes Executive No 5 episodes
The Sympathizer Yes No No Episode "Give Us Some Good Lines"

Awards and nominations

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References

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  1. ^ "Fernando Meirelles - Biografia prematura" (PDF). imprensaoficial.com.br/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  2. ^ Schneider, Steven Jay, ed. (2007). 501 Movie Directors. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 565. ISBN 9781844035731. OCLC 1347156402.
  3. ^ "Fernando Meirelles - Biografia prematura" (PDF). imprensaoficial.com.br/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Fernando Meirelles - Biografia prematura" (PDF). imprensaoficial.com.br/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  5. ^ Glenny, Misha (6 August 2016). "Olympic opening ceremony was done on the cheap – but it was heartfelt and dazzling" – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ Kay, Jeremy (9 September 2019). "Fernando Meirelles talks Netflix awards hopeful 'The Two Popes'". Screen Daily. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  7. ^ "Fernando Meirelles produz série para o Nat Geo | Revista de Cinema".
  8. ^ "Nova série de Fernando Meirelles na Globo terá elenco veterano". Portal de Notícias D24am - Amazonas. 28 February 2013.
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