Kátia Lund facts for kids

Kátia Lund (born March 13, 1966) is a Brazilian film director and screenwriter. She is most famous for co-directing the movie City of God.

Early Life and Education

Kátia Lund was born in São Paulo, Brazil. Her parents were American and moved to Brazil before she was born. She went to Escola Maria Imaculada, an American Catholic school in São Paulo. Kátia was very good at art there. Later, she studied at Brown University in the United States. This is where she became interested in making films.

Filmmaking Career

After graduating with high honors, Kátia Lund started working. She was an assistant director for many music videos, commercials, and movies. Growing up, she didn't know much about the difficult lives of people in Rio de Janeiro's favelas. These are poor neighborhoods.

Then, she worked on a music video for Michael Jackson's song "They Don't Care About Us". This video was filmed in a favela. This experience showed her the challenges people faced there. She decided to make films about these communities. Her goal was to help people in Brazil understand and care more about social issues.

Nós do Cinema Project

Kátia Lund also leads an organization called Nós do Cinema. This means "We of Cinema." It started with young people who acted in City of God. These actors were real residents of Rio's favelas. Kátia first created a non-profit acting school. This school helped her find the cast for City of God.

Nós do Cinema now offers classes and job chances in films. It helps young people from poor areas. The organization also shows movies and holds discussions. This helps to raise awareness about social issues through film. Kátia Lund also directed a part called "Bilú e João" in the 2005 movie All the Invisible Children.

Filmography

Awards and Recognition

In 1996, Kátia Lund started working on a documentary. It was called Notícias de uma Guerra Particular (News of a Private War). This film explored the challenges faced by communities in Rio's favelas and the police. It was released in 1999 and was highly praised. The film was even nominated for an Emmy Award after being shown on PBS.

The success of this documentary made her a popular director for Brazil's hip-hop artists. She won many MTV Video Music Awards Latin America.

In 2001, Fernando Meirelles asked Lund to co-direct Golden Gate (Palace II). This was a short film about two young boys in a favela. The film won several awards at film festivals around the world.

Lund and Meirelles continued to work together on the movie City of God. This film became famous worldwide. It was nominated for four Academy Awards. The success of City of God led to the television series City of Men. This show continued the story from Golden Gate. Kátia Lund produced the show with Meirelles. She also directed four episodes. The show was very popular in Brazil.

See also

In Spanish: Kátia Lund para niños