Fernando Meirelles facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Fernando Meirelles
Meirelles at the premiere of his film 360 in 2012.
Born	Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (1955-11-09) 9 November 1955 (age 69) São Paulo, Brazil
Alma mater	University of São Paulo
Occupation	Film director producer screenwriter
Years active	1982–present
Spouse(s)	Cecilia Teivelis ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	2
Awards	List

Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (born November 9, 1955) is a famous film director, producer, and screenwriter from Brazil. He is best known for directing the movie City of God. The film was a huge success around the world and earned him a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Director.

Meirelles also directed other award-winning movies. His film The Constant Gardener won an Academy Award for actress Rachel Weisz. He also directed the popular film The Two Popes for Netflix. In television, he has directed episodes for shows like Sugar and The Sympathizer.

Early Life and First Films

Fernando Meirelles was born in São Paulo, Brazil. His father was a doctor who traveled a lot for work. This allowed a young Fernando to see many different places and cultures. His mother was a designer who worked on gardens and home interiors.

Growing up, Fernando loved movies. His father made home movies on an 8 mm film camera, often creating fun stories with family and friends as actors. When Fernando was 13, he borrowed a Super 8 camera and started making his own short films. He was inspired by animated movies he had seen.

Career in Film and Television

From College to Commercials

In the 1980s, Meirelles studied architecture at the University of São Paulo. For his final project, instead of drawing building plans, he made a film. He traveled to Japan to buy special video equipment for the project.

After college, he started making experimental films with his friends. They even created their own production company called Olhar Eletrônico. They made popular TV shows, including a children's series called Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum. Later, Meirelles became interested in making advertisements and started a new company, O2 Filmes. He became one of Brazil's top commercial directors.

Directing City of God

In 1997, Meirelles read the book City of God by Paulo Lins. He knew he had to turn it into a movie. He made a unique choice for the film: he decided to cast people who actually lived in the poor neighborhoods (called favelas) of Rio de Janeiro.

After auditioning hundreds of kids, he chose 200 to work with for the film. Released in 2002, City of God was a massive success. It was praised by critics everywhere and received four Academy Award nominations, including one for Meirelles as Best Director.

International Success

After City of God, Meirelles began directing major international films. His next big movie was The Constant Gardener. It was also a huge hit, earning four Oscar nominations. Actress Rachel Weisz won an Academy Award for her role in the film. Most of the movie was filmed on location in Kenya, and Meirelles made sure the soundtrack featured music from Africa.

Later, he directed Blindness, based on a famous novel by José Saramago. In 2016, he was one of the creative directors for the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2019, he directed The Two Popes for Netflix, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce. The same year, he directed a Brazilian TV series for HBO called Pico da Neblina. The show tells the story of a young man who decides to start a legal business with a partner after a new law is passed in Brazil.

Personal life

Meirelles is a Catholic.

Filmography

Film

Documentary shorts

Feature film

Short film

Television

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Fernando Meirelles para niños