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Let's go, Rocket. Take a picture of us.

-What are you waiting for? -It's been 10 years, homie.

We were at Cannes, man.

That's some crazy shit. We had a blast.

I remember Leandro...

Roberta, Jonathan

...and boarding with Fernando and Katia

to show our movie for the first time.

Directly from Rio de Janeiro's favelas to France.

Everything was a first to me, bro.

First airplane trip, first film festival

and my first performance in a movie.

I had never imagined myself as a movie actor.

On that day, at that festival,

I walked into an exhibition room as a first time actor

and I walked out as the great Rocket from City of God.

Slow down, what's your name?

What's your name? What's your name?

Rocket.

Then it got crazy.

We won several awards,

the movie premiered in movie theaters all over the world.

City of God.

Li'l Dice is my ass, my name is Li'l Zé now, motherfucker

We became a hit with the audience and the critics.

There are hard to forget scenes

City of God is best of new Brazilian cinema

A masterpiece

Two years later we were nominated for 4 Oscars, man.

That was unheard of for a Brazilian movie,

unforgettable.

I never imaged that I, along with two hundred

other actors coming from the Rio de Janeiro's favelas,

could star in a movie and become a reference all over the world.

Hey idiot! Son of a bitch!

It's like I said in the movie:

"In the City of God,

if you run away, they get you.

And if you stay, they get you too."

We decided we would stay and let it get us.

-Hey boy! You, bro! -Get that one! Over here!

Get that one! Go, boy!

CITY OF GOD 10 YEARS LATER

What's up?

That's it, boys,

this is the COG crew.

What's up, City of God,

Come on!

Listen close.

Here we go.

I'll do it!

I live in the slums.

I'm also God's son.

But I'm not known to bitch and moan.

But my love is gone.

I'm a life worker,

I work with what God gave me.

But if I'm late for work,

what's mine will be taken.

João, José, Jesus, Mané

Tião, Pelé, Xangô, Bené

In the beginning, in the 80s, we had no barbecues.

Because the country's economic situation was nothing like it is today.

So, it was just beer, some cachaça...

some well-made mush...

chicken foot, some neck.

Some potatoes, carrots.

What's up?

It's better to hug him now.

I have him.

Right, son?

I had never thought about working with art,

it was far from me.

I always liked movies,

always liked the audiovisual thing, you know?

But working as an actor,

on movies, audiovisual, damn...

Especially when I was a kid, that was unlikely

Man: black, born in a poor community, in a favela

those things were for the rich kids

living at the south side...

After the movie, not only City of God,

but the Rio de Janeiro favelas,

the south side favelas

became sort of a hyped, right...

foreigners, they could visit, spend some time...

It was a boom, no one expected it.

I didn't expect it. I'm speaking for myself.

The first time I stopped to watch the movie was at Cannes festival.

Man, it was so... so magical. You know?

Because it was the first time I saw the movie

after it was done. Get it?

I never saw a movie screen that size.

Mom, we saw a bunch of Ferraris, a load of Ferraris.

I was not used to seeing that, I was blown away.

And so, when I came back, it was raining.

I lay on the bed, like this, a bunk bed.

My mom slept on the bottom, I slept on the top, my sister, on the floor.

I lay, and then comes this drop, a leak, like this: ploft, ploft...

And I went like "Motherfucker."

The raw, harsh reality, right, man?

Yeah, I flew in a plane, I rode in fancy cars,

that shitload of flashes on my face.

But these motherfuckers don't know where I live.

This is it! Look at my house, look at how I live!

Then, I started to cry, right, brother?

I cried like a baby, like a brat.

It was a huge cultural shock, man.

Huge. Huge.

Shit!

And so, all of a sudden, you get out of the favela,

where everything was crazy, it was a crazy war.

And you are there, it's so glamorous, the best place,

you are eating at the best places, like,

the world at your feet, people worshiping you.

My life, over there, as it was, while I was trying

to find out how to keep up with it all,

how to create a structure that allows you to go through.

We didn't have that. I, at least, didn't.

I'll confess that I was scared about this whole thing for a long time.

SHAGGY

It was like everything was settled.

You made a great movie, it was a great hit,

my life is settled, that's it, let's move on,

make some money, help out the family, et cetera.

But it got harder, because you had this very strong reference.

Run, Shaggy!

Stop the car! Stop the car!

And so my difficulty was figuring out how to leave this movie,

how am I going to be me?

How am I going to be Jonathan, the actor?

This is where I had a click.

I said "No, I have to build a career. I can't just spend my...

whole life being overshadowed by this movie."

Of course! It's the soap opera about the can.

-About what? -The can!

-What? -The can!

There, at that moment, I found out how cruel

that art of ours was, how harsh it was, that scene I wanted to be in.

Because you go from one extreme to the other really fast.

One day you are a big star and the next day

you are there, in your hood, sitting by the gate,

drinking beer with your friends, you know.

And suddenly the war breaks out, right next to you.

And that is it...

My father became unemployed and I was lost

The soap opera was over and I thought, "What am I going to do with my life?

For sure I am strong and want to work.

My mother is a seamstress, my father is a car mechanic.

But my father was stolen by his partner. He was broken.

And at the last minute, I got hired by the TV network.

So I could support my whole family.

Hey Diva! Have you moved?

I was just going to talk to you.

Do you know where I am going? To Turkey!

He will pay for everything! He is investing a lot in me!

Ih pipipi! Better late than never!

Nice to see you, envy! Welcome!

It is such a shame you couldn't hold onto your man.

-Go to Turkey! - I can break you...

Come close, man! How is it hanging?

Hey, Seu Jorge. It's all good.

All good? What's up, my man?

It's been a long time...

Come in, come in.

Are you working here?

I'm working here, right next to you.

I always stay at this hotel.

-Is everything going well? -Everything is cool.

How's life, working here?

Everything is all right, I'm here as an apprentice.

-I'm learning about the business. -Where are you living?

-Here in Vidigal. -That's one sweet commute.

Piece of cake.

-On wheels or on foot? -On wheels or on foot?

No, I walk.

Great. It's cool here, the view, Rio de Janeiro. It's great.

Yeah, Rio de Janeiro.

So, man, I'm passing through.

Today there's the premiere for a movie.

It's such a trip.

The guys came to do a documentary about City of God and everything...

And, damn, it's been a while, right?

10 years!

I kept going, stuck to it.

I'm doing a bunch of film work.

So, good to see you, man.

Hey, I'm a big fan, man! Your songs...

The whole thing... I'm really into it.

Cool, cool. Good luck working, my man, hustling.

Don't give up, hun? You gotta...

Sure.

The good side about this is... the food...

and also the tips, every day,

the tips are really good.

It's enough to go through the week...

I also remember Leandro Firmino...

I was afraid of Leandro Firmino.

Because they made me afraid of him,

so I could get into character and cry.

Go ahead, punk, choose.

The hand...

I didn't like to see myself on that big screen,

but then I got used to it, I began to like it,

and I saw it was really something...

But now I have this to tell people: "I was in City of God.

I was the kid who was shot on the foot"

and people say "Oh, that scene was so strong."

Everybody says that.

So I have that as a childhood memory.

After City of God there was this week

when he was on three TV stations,

in different soaps.

So he was really sought after,

he was working a lot.

FELIPE'S FATHER

I don't know what made him give up

on his career, he was being requested.

I don't know if he could go to jail for it, man...

It was a serious problem.

But I don't know...

My dad, he...

And so I sort of didn't feel like living an actor's life.

'Cause I worked and he spent my money.

He used my stuff...

it was not I who was enjoying my assets,

it was him. And so I rebelled against it

and I didn't want to go on with that life.

It's not that I didn't want to, but I felt like giving up because of that.

He thought what he made with Cidade de Deus

was a lot of money, right?

A movie that was such a huge hit...

I have no idea, because my dad was dealing with that. I had no clue.

You could look it up, maybe at the movie's cost production table.

You'll find there how much a given person earned.

You should find it, then you just have to check it.

I think maybe it was 3, 4 thousand at best.

And, when the movie came out, a computer was still a luxury, right?

It was expensive. He bought a top of the line computer.

An expensive computer, so he spent a good deal of his money, a great deal.

I grew up and I faced him. And he got...

mad at me just because I said those things to his face.

Then my mom said "Let go, it's in the past."

And I said "okay" and decided to be a good sport...

To continue my career as an actor and give the best to my daughter...

that's my biggest dream.

I just need a break.

-Can you develop this? -This one.

How much is it? Take this money, here.

Man, I remember that when I did City of God

I bought a computer that broke down four years later.

It was not that much money.

A shitload of money!

We're gonna be, like, famous, loaded... But reality is very different.

Folks are saying that? Four thousand...

I got five thousand Reais.

Get this!

I paid the rent, did some groceries...

I bought some essential supplies...

That was it.

You are just chilling there, hen, loaded with cash, what's up?

Hey, what are you doing, man?

I said "Hey, mom, I'm gonna buy you a house.

My mom said, "Take it easy, son, with 2500 you can't buy a house".

It was around, 2, 3 thousand.

I bought a skateboard! I bought this skateboard,

gave my mom some money and I was so happy...

Take this money to dad, here,

but don't tell him I sent it, all right?

Shake on it.

I took 1500 Reais, and my dad is going to kill me when he hears this,

and I spent it all on earrings, bracelets,

a ton of costume jewels.

And that's it, those 3500 Reais made me very happy.

They said "Either you take 10 thousand Reais,

or you can have a percentage of the movie's box office revenue!"

They said "Alexandre, we need to talk about your pay."

"Okay, it's all right, I'll go see about the pay."

So I got here and she said: "You will get that much."

I said "What?"

And what did he choose? He chose the 10 thousand Reais.

Man, what a call, hen?

Fuck me, if I could go back in time, 10 years ago,

I'd say "What I want is the box office, man!"

Now I'd be like, "Wow!"

Hey, what's up?

I'm trying to choose a watch to wear tonight.

Damn, if I had made City of God abroad maybe I would have made a million...

Here, in those days' currency, I made like 10 thousand Reais.

And at the time, damn, that was a lot of money, man.

I was in the military for one year,

earning 100 and something Reais as a recruit, you know?

All I know is that that money lasted a while, man.

I bought a computer and I still had money left, you know?

I spent it little by little.

Because dealing with money is hard. Nowadays I have more control over it.

I have a son, you know? I'm a dad, it's totally different,

but, damn, dealing with money is crazy.

Good night, folks!

It's a great pleasure to be here with you,

especially because today is Black Awareness day.

And so here is:

Seu Jorge!

All right, now we are on!

Well, I'm gonna tell you a story: I ended up in Hollywood...

KNOCKOUT NED

...shooting The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou...

'cause Wes Anderson knew that Fernando Meirelles

was the last Brazilian director to shoot a movie

with a big black cast

and he needed a Brazilian black person

who could sing, who could write versions

for those songs...

He wanted a very specific thing because,

in the script, the character was called Pelé dos Santos.

So it had to be a black guy and he had to be Brazilian.

And, if he looked like Pelé, so much the better.

So I shot a video, like, with a camera. I placed some cushions,

picked up the guitar, with a beer can by my side,

and said, in terrible English:

"What's up, my brother, I play and stuff, I've done theater.

If you want me I'm available, it's all cool, yo, gimme a call."

Then I sent him the video and he went nuts over it.

It was sort of like... a reference, right?

Oh, Angélica. I was crazy about her.

What's up, Rocket? Always taking pictures, right?

I look good in this one

You are beautiful.

-Be serious. -I'm serious.

Sunset, a deserted beach, French kissing...

I thought it was going to happen there.

That moment with the kiss and everything,

it was a frame in the movie that really helped me,

because that frame became the poster for the movie in the U.S.,

and it was really cool because people became curious about my work.

So even if it was a relatively small part,

it was through City of God that I found my agent in the U.S.

And so I got the I Am Legend audition, with Will Smith.

And it was really cool, I mean, just getting the audition

was amazing... and so I did it, it went great,

and I came to Brazil.

And so they called me and said:

"We want you to do an audition with Will."

And I flipped!

I got on a plane and went... and it went great.

Obviously he mentioned City Of God

and we spent about 15 minutes talking about it.

And that's when it began, it was the first movie

that really opened a lot of doors for me.

Rio de Janeiro. The beach.

The night life. The romance.

But 15 miles from Paradise

is a place called the City of God.

What's up, Carlinhos?

It's all good, man. How is it going?

I'm shooting that documentary I told you about,

about the 10 years since City of God.

- Come over ... -Yes, about the movie...

Back when it all came up

as a possibility for successes, visibility,

we all hoped and imagined most people

would have a career plan, but life is just like that...

it's how it is.

Each one has their path,

each one has their moment

and their way to understand things,

to receive things, and to deal with them

as they present themselves in their lives.

Look at Blacky, covered in gold.

As we are here, talking about Rubinho...

BLACKY

...how many people are dying in Africa, in the middle-east,

Israel, Rio... and we are here,

talking about ten years ago,

just to prove someone something, so this movie can go to a festival,

to the movie-theaters, TV, cable,

so people can say "Oh, look, he's well" or "He's not well."

Just to prove someone something, just to please our egos,

mine, his, yours, or whoever's watching.

We want to prove it, we want to show someone else

how someone's life is going.

We are not worried about changing people's lives.

We're selfish, I am selfish.

I came here because I'll make money,

I'm being selfish.

Everybody is selfish.

-Do you wanna buy a joint or smoke one? -I wanna buy one.

Come in, brother, come in.

Who is it?

Who is it?

Fuck, Li'l Dice, what are you doing coming

into my racket this way, my friend?

Who said this is your racket, boy?

The young man, who took part in the Fernando Meirelles movie,

was visited today by his lawyer at the police lockup in downtown Rio.

Rubens Sabino da Silva was arrested this Friday

after trying to rob a woman's purse inside a bus.

Rubinho is 19 years old and has no criminal record.

This week the lawyer will ask for temporary release.

2003, it was Friday the 13th...

I was arrested at 10 a.m.,

after trying to take 12 thousand Reais from an old lady at Niemeyer Avenue.

And so the police came and arrested us.

Arrested me, and they kept the money. When the lady came they just said:

"We didn't find any money." They kept 12 thousand Reais,

and the lady got screwed.

I got screwed too.

Here, at this police station, I had the worst day.

Damn, I had never been arrested or anything like that.

When I got here there were a bunch of reporters,

like vultures, standing at the door.

I was bruised, you know...

Anyways, I have an awful feeling about this place.

What's up, Li'l Zé?

What's up my ass, Blacky!

Her family already turned me in, you won't take any of the heat, take it easy!

The whole favela is crawling with cops because of you, Blacky!

Get the fuck out of the favela. You didn't show respect.

Do you hear me, motherfucker?

I left jail the day before my birthday.

The first thing I did

was getting my family together

and watching the movie,

because I had not seen it yet.

Go ahead, Rocket, take our picture!

And they said "Fuck, you were in City of God. Why are you in jail?"

I said "I'm in jail 'cause I'm hustling, I need money.

The movie didn't give me that much money."

It didn't mean anything.

LI'L ZÉ'S GANG

There's no point in making a movie that's known worldwide

if I'm broke, man.

Yo, kids! What's up? Come here.

I started to steal.

I started to hang out with these kids who had grown up with me.

One started to do it, the other too...

We were always hanging out together, so suddenly we were fucking up together.

We did good when we were together... But when one of us started to fuck up,

we all went along.

-Raise your shirt! - Damn, I nearly died in a robbery.

The cops shot at us a lot, we were arrested.

The car covered in bullet holes, a bunch of them, a bunch of them.

The future now is up in Mars

the unforeseen comes suddenly and hits you hard

you need to have sensitivity, without cruelty.

Minors can't face this reality.

So take a deep breath.

Going through Vidigal is a real test.

You gotta have the knowledge, you gotta study up

because if life is a book, you want to read it up.

All that's yours is yours, all that's mine is mine.

What's yours is not mine, what's mine is not yours.

Where is the drug den?

Turn left.

I got mixed up with drug-dealing in the community.

I have these friends, we thought we were in charge, you know? But we were not...

Why don't you rob a bank?

Quit it, brother. We are all about the stuff.

About the stuff, do you feel me?

I want to know who outed Rogerio.

Ox did it!

Someone oughta out that motherfucker

And Russo too.

And Botucatu.

What about Acerola?

We'll both go, plus three other kids, all right?

Let's do it.

My own friends nearly had me killed.

At least they called themselves my friends, you know?

One of them was my cousin. My cousin for real,

my blood relative, my father's nephew.

For someone to go into this life, they have to be mean, they need to be mean.

And I don't know how to be mean.

After my son was born, I stopped to think it over

and I came to the conclusion it was better

for my son to grow up and see me

as his father than just hearing about how he once had a father.

That's why I'm alive here today.

Only because of that.

Traffic even has its own career plan.

Young boys begin to work as errands boys.

Then they are promoted to lookout, then they are promoted to dealers,

dealing within the favela.

Soldier is a higher rank.

They work on containment issues.

If the guy is smart and good at math,

he might become the drug den's manager.

The manager is the boss's right hand man.

I usually say...

I was never a traffic soldier.

I had a different position.

So, I was the guy who took care of the money,

I counted money, I stored money.

I, like, came up with schemes to make more money,

that was my position there, you know?

So, I was paid for that.

But, although this position was, hierarchically speaking...

on top,

I never considered myself an actual soldier.

When the whole thing with City of God started

I was chill about it, because I had already

been going through a transformation.

I was totally fucked, moneywise, man.

I was in deep shit, I had already given up...

And then comes this guy, who at the time was a dealer,

who had grown up with me, and he told me "Man,

I've got a feeling this is your chance, brother.

You can't stop going there,

Here's some money so you can keep going there."

So, he gave me this money and I started going to Gabinal,

and I started to really get into that whole thing

and at that moment I said "Man, this is what I want to do with my life."

I fell in love with that whole world.

I entered in the film to be a character.

Even had a name: Jorge Piranha.

I worked for more than twenty days, memorized the script but then,

when editing began,

my lines were cut off and I became an extra.

And then, on the premiere day,

I took all my friends from the Favela but no one even saw me in the film!

They went making fun of me all the way back home.

I tried to outwit them on the subway but it didn't work.

That really sucked.

When I saw what it was like behind the scenes,

I said "Man, I don't want to be an actor, I want to be a director!"

Because I realized that what we see is the director's point of view,

he creates this point of view

with the help of other people.

-Do you want to dance with me? -What?

-Do you want to dance with me? -I can't understand.

-Do you want to dance with me? -No, no, thank you, I'm with someone.

I was in school, I was finishing high school.

I had already performed military service.

Sometimes I did some odd jobs, like, I don't know,

I was a courier for a while, for a few months.

Then I tried to work at a dinner, but it didn't work out.

We give the people from City of God an opportunity,

and they don't appreciate it. It's a fair dismissal!

Go, get your things, leave!

I was sacked without severance pay.

One day I was at my house

and a neighbor of mine came over and said:

"Hey, Leandro, there are these folks who work with movies,

and they are casting young people for a movie about City of God."

And I said "No, Diogo, that has nothing to do with me,

I never acted in my life". And he said:

"Come on, maybe you'll like it"

And I remember that my first audition was giving a testimony on cameras.

I talked a little about my personal life,

I talked a little about my plans for the future

I thought that was an important moment, you know, important for my life.

Like, it was not about doing the movie or not doing it,

but I felt it was something that, in some way, would change my life.

The boy is not Li'l Dice anymore.

The boy is now Li'l Zé

Li'l Zé so he can grow up.

You go with me and I'll go with you.

When he said I was going to play Li'l Zé,

I said "Damn, it's the movie's strongest character.

Do you think I can pull it off?"

Fuck you, do you want to die?

Take off your clothes, bitch.

-Stop it! -Shut up, bitch!

I want to see that ass. Take your clothes off!

-What? -Come on!

Although I served in the military for one year,

and I was handling firearms for one year, and right after that I did the movie...

And it was a brave character.

He goes to the line of fire...

But me, I'm chicken, man.

I remember some shootouts happened on my street

and I hid under my bed.

It's such a transformation that sometimes

I stop to think about it and I can't believe it.

"Damn, I'm an actor."

I wanted to be an Air Force officer, a police officer, but now...

Throughout these ten years

a lot of cool stuff happened, you know.

Some negative stuff too. I was out of work for a period of time.

I thought I'd never would get any work again and

I wanted to give up but...

It's how it goes, you know, that happens,

because I was typecast by that character,

because he's such a strong character.

But, personally, I think I can play any character.

"City Of Men" TV Series 2002-2005

Can you tell me

if we are going to be broke

somewhere down the road?

You tell me

what is going to be

if we are going to be broke

somewhere down the road?

Can you tell me...

The family, the mother-in-law...

Did you throw that barbecue you talked about?

Yeah, I had it on the terrace.

-Now I got an upgrade, you know? -How come?

Back in the favela we had a roof, but now it's a terrace!

God willing we'll soon have a penthouse.

And how about your marriage, now that you have a kid?

It's all good, thank God. It's a baby girl,

the prettiest thing, Maria Flor.

It's all good, but once in a while she wants to stay up until 3 a.m.

And you let her?

What can I do? Yell "Sleep!" at her?

A little baby that is less than a month old?

What is it, kid?

Didn't you friend take everything already? What do you want, kid?

Do we need to have faith?

Yes. An unshakable faith.

Because if your faith is not unshakable.

During your journey you'll lose strength.

To be thirsty and hungry...

I didn't have a father, so I don't know what's like to be a father.

I don't have a carnal, a worldly father figure to cling to.

And I put that into my prayers,

I ask God to give me the wisdom so I can make

good decisions when it comes to my daughter.

My mom worked two jobs

and I recall that at the time, minimum wage was 120, 150 Reais.

Now you tell me, she supported a house,

had 6 mouths to feed. Herself plus 5 others.

Living in a shack that got flooded every time it rained and stuff.

Imagine this woman's despair.

So he said "Mom, if nothing happens with theater or the movie,

I'll study a lot, I want to be a sailor.

Here are the nominees for the International Emmy Award

for Best Performance by an Actor.

Best performance by an actor.

From Brazil, Douglas Silva in City of Men.

Look who I have here with me:

Douglas Silva, from City of Men. straight to New York's red carpet!

What was going through your mind when you saw this bunch of photographers?

I felt like 50 Cent, Will Smith, Denzel Washington...

LI'L DICE

The Emmy, I think... I don't know.

STEAK AND FRIES

I think he was the first Brazilian actor to be nominated for an Emmy.

-Maybe. -It's TV's Oscars.

Fuck, man!

Nothing changed in my life,

the way I close contracts,

it didn't give me a paycheck raise...

I'm glad I was cool about it and I wasn't going around like

"Oh, look at me, I'm an Emmy nominee!

I'm an Emmy nominee!"

So, as far as I'm concerned, nothing changed.

Thanks, man! Come on, let's go, let's go.

Take it easy!

What's up? I come up with the whole plan,

I give it to you as a gift.

This guy does nothing!

You had the idea, that's all...

So!

How many times do I need to tell you you're a kid?

We were very young, and had this responsibility,

to go to the shootings,

the whole thing about the family, to help the family...

And helping the family became an obligation.

And so at the time you felt like rebelling against it,

saying "Come on, folks, that's enough,

I'm just a kid, let me enjoy my youth."

Keep calm! Li'l Dice is one of us!

You know, I am also a badass.

It's like a Ferris wheel, those who are up will go down,

and those who are down will go up.

What's hard for me is knowing when to stop,

because of my own structure, you know, I'm different,

I'm climbing up, trying to ascend in society.

And I believe that from now on

things will never go as badly as they used to.

Now I have some structure, I could give my family some structure

and I know that from now on it will be all right

because the worst is behind me.

Is this for the documentary?

The whole of Brazil will watch it?

The whole of Brazil will see it.

I live a maid's life It only begins at 7 a.m.

On the weekend, I put on my heels To see what's going to happen

One day I'll buy my own place And I'll be a socialite

I'll be all right Traveling with my fling

I live a maid's life It only begins at 7 a.m.

On the weekend, I put on my heels

I lived in an orphanage, I lived in the streets for a long time,

lived in shelters.

So I don't have that fatherly affection...

GOOSE

...the whole family thing, wanting to build a family.

It was always just me. Myself and I.

Why do you do that, Renato?

Do you think I'm a fool?

From now own you'll work with me.

I really like eggs on bread,

but at that moment I felt the taste of caviar.

For a special customer like yourself,

I have a kisser fish...

That's actually a Mullet.

It was like a fantasy world.

And I couldn't, but I was sort of taken by that fantasy.

So you tell yourself "Damn, I worked as an actor."

I couldn't go and look for a steady job. They are going to say:

"Oh, I can't hire you because you are an actor.

This has nothing to do with you. Go do your thing, man."

They think it's so easy, they say:

"You've already done it. Why don't you keep going?"

But it's not how it works.

The famous Tender Trio made history in City of God.

Shaggy,

Clipper,

and Goose.

I don't know. Maybe I, myself

because I was not ready for that world,

relaxed and thought everything would just fall in my lap.

You know?

But it's not that,

it's that

I didn't have the structure,

I didn't do theater,

you know?

You do some plays and then...

With me it was all sudden, a huge hit, "boom!"

and I was there.

Smoke this!

Hey, turn that the other way, are you nuts?

Son of a bitch, why are you pointing that gun at me for, you punk?"

And now I'm here, chilling, and then

this movie plays in my head, like a flashback,

and I keep thinking about it and I think "It's okay,"

because I know someday I'll get another break.

It's really good not being me.

Because when you are being you, you can't do it.

Right now I can't find the right words to say it...

But I think you can catch my drift.

I like to act, I liked doing it, it was cool.

And if someday I get another shot I'll do my best,

because it feels good to be someone else.

We are what we are, we are Brazilians

and we are fucking proud!

I'm Brazilian with a lot of pride With a lot of love

Come on, let me hear it! Clap your hands!

I'm Brazilian, with a lot of pride With a lot of love

We wish a very nice Carnival to all of you.

We are the "Tender Trio" band from Vidigal favela.

Of course, you get a lot of attention.

At the concerts...

There's also the fact that I made soaps, movies,

it all makes it bigger, right?

So, people want to know who you are, they want

to be close to you, want to touch you.

But it's all good, it never got out of hand.

Sometimes you need to have some people escorting you.

It's another option, it's all good, it's all right.

If I didn't want the attention,

I would have been a doctor, right?

If you want to get into this life of crime you first need to be an errand boy.

I was born and raised in the favela.

I have already made 8 feature films.

Five TV soap-operas

and fifteen theater productions.

When I realized, my life had changed... TV changes people's life.

Check her out Coming down the hill

Check her out, it's Friday Elite, party on

Check her out Coming down the hill

Check her out, it's Friday Elite, party on

She puts on a lacy skirt And freshens up

Her skin is golden From the beach in Vidigal

Yo, kids. You need to go and do some mugging,

help me get my drug den going.

Who said the den is yours, Li'l Zé?

-Are you crazy, punk? -Yeah, who said it?

This one is for our friend, motherfucker!

Soviet Attack!

Light, cameras, action! Soviet attack!

Bang, bang, bang! He killed Li'l Zé, damnit...

Li'l Zé went to hell, man.

-Thiaguinho was behind it. -No way.

He killed Li'l Zé, took over the den.

He owns the favela now, we're fucked.

The den is ours!

Peace without voice It isn't peace, it is fear

Sometimes I tell life Sometimes it is the life that tells me

Which peace I want to keep

To try to be happy

Sometimes I tell life Sometimes it is the life that tells me

Which peace I want to keep

To try to be happy

Man, I didn't make a lot of money. I met many people, right?

The guy paid us 4500 reais in a movie that cost millions, you know?

I think it was too little. Yeah.

They sell the DVD in Saudi Arabia,

Israel, Poland, Yugoslavia...

They sell that disk everywhere.

He himself said it in that newspaper, that it's amazing

how anywhere he goes in the world, he goes in a store

and they are selling the City of God DVD.

I was raised, for a while, by Aunt Kalma, you know?

She had a drug den, and that's where we all lived.

We all hung around Lapa. They helped me out.

Aunt Kalma used to say "When you got here you didn't

smoke pot, don't smoke inside my house."

Can you imagine? You are living with a gang,

inside a drug den but you can't smoke pot. That's fucked up.

I was posing as a badass criminal, live at the news,

but in real life I was watching that with a gang of drug dealers.

Because they took me in for a while.

It was nuts, man, that day.

And they were my family, right?

They were my family.

Let me see what I can do

I come from Rio de Janeiro

Carnival lasts The whole year through

I come from Rio de Janeiro

Carnival lasts The whole year through

There are gringos playing the tambourine

Chinese playing the Cuíca

And the Macumba goes on In the backyard

I come from Rio de Janeiro

Carnival lasts The whole year through

There are gringos playing The tambourine

Chinese playing the Cuíca

And the Macumba goes on In the backyard

I think about showing Seu Jorge this song,

that's where my future is at.

Me, sitting down with him, he's playing the guitar

and we're singing this song.

After that I'll answer that question,

I'll tell you how it's going to be.

But I see my future in music, you know,

I love this song...

And I think that if Seu Jorge sings it,

things will begin to get better,

I'll get work again.

But that's what I see in my future: Seu Jorge, sitting

by my side, playing the guitar, singing this song.

That's it, man, I swear.

All hail Jorge! Hail Brazilian black people, hail us!

Racionais MC.

Thank you, this is for you! I want to hear it!

This is for you This is for you

Black drama Between success and the mud

Money, troubles, envy, luxury, fame

My curly hair, my dark skin

A wound, a sore I'm looking for the cure

Black drama, you try to see it But you can't see

Anything but a star, a far overshadowed

Now feel this drama The price you pay, the pressure

In love, in hate In that insane revenge

Black drama

I know the one who plots from the ones who stand by me.

The trauma I carry, not to be another black fuckup

The jail and favela drama,

the grave, the blood, the sirens, cries and candles.

If you are black and coming from a favela and you don't have a diploma then,

fuck, you will be last in line.

After the movie, I had a clear direction of what to do

and what not to do.

So I could escape from the stereotype

of the black guy making robbers characters.

I think we need more

black people telling their own story.

Everybody keeps saying that this whole thing

about black people is getting annoying...

And then I think about it, and I say:

"It's annoying only if you don't go through it".

A Brazilian passenger, São Paulo.

An agony that survives amidst the mess,

the cowardice, in the outskirts, ghettos, tenements.

You must be wondering what do you have to do with that?

From the beginning, for silver and gold,

look who's dying and see yourself who does the killing.

Take the credit, the uniform for those who do harm

to see me poor, jailed or dead, it's simply cultural.

Truth be told, if you tune into Brazilian television,

be it Globo Networks or any other TV station,

you don't see a lot of black people, right?

And this is very hard to deal with, because there are billions of us.

We are the majority,

but we are not the majority in the market.

Cheers, a toast to me.

I'm an example of victory, of trailing through, of glories.

Money might take a man out of misery but you won't take the favela from within him.

Because few are those who step into the field to win.

The soul holds on to what the mind tries to forget.

Black drama as a style, maybe it could be.

It has to be if you fear you'll be left out.

Between the trigger and the storm I'm always trying to prove,

that I'm a man and not a coward.

May God keep me for I know he's not neutral.

He watches over the rich, but loves those from the ghetto.

In order for you to get work in Brazil in the script

it must read "black woman lawyer" not just "lawyer."

A lawyer is anyone else. I am the black lawyer,

or the black doctor.

You'll be a black doctor.

There is this...

There is this... This barrier.

Black people in Brazil? Has been no evolution.

Nothing. Nothing happened.

Women's rights did it!

They are strong now, growing, which is great.

Gay people too, they are going after their rights,

their civil rights, and that's important.

But black people?

There's no improvement.

This road is poisonous It's a minefield

It's a nightmare I sing praises to

Those who live amidst war Peace never existed

In warm weather We get the cold sweats

I saw a lil black kid His notebook was a rifle

You hear me?

Black drama, black drama We're black drama

We should just steal from the rich

so we can get out of this life.

To know for sure what happened,

nobody knows

Each one tells a story.

And he told a relative of ours

he planned to disappear and no one would know where he was.

I thought he was a bit strange

and tried to talk to him,

but he said he was tired and wanted to sleep

When it was morning, I woke up early at 6 a.m.

He was no longer in his room.

I waited for his return.

But he did not return in a day, nor the next...

So we started to look around.

And he-- I won't lie to you about it.

He was involved in it.

JEFECHANDER'S MOTHER

We heard about how he was involved in it,

because we were looking for him

precisely in those places,

in the places that are involved in it.

And I was always worried about causing him problems.

I don't know what I did wrong, I don't know.

I never went to the police to file a missing person's report,

because I simply didn't know what was happening,

so I was afraid of sending the cops after him,

and I didn't want to do that.

But of one thing I am sure: he's not dead.

I am sure of this.

He is not dead.

Why are you so sure about it?

A mother's heart just knows.

I am sure.

Goose, I had a vision.

What did you smoke, man?

You've had a job, right Goose?

Yeah.

How is it like? What do they say to you?

I only work with my father...

and you know how fathers are,

they only say bullshit.

You know what?

I'm gonna quit this life, or else I'll end up dead.

You've got to be crazy to be in this life, it's not for me.

Don't go, man, they are down there!

Fuck them.

I am going back to the church!

What I feared...

ended up

happening.

I always told him not to take fiction into reality, right?

And I know that's what he did, he brought fiction into reality.

But I won't say it was the movie's fault,

because people can always choose, right?

People are what they are because they want to be.

They choose, they make a choice in their lives.

And many do well, but others don't, unfortunately.

He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague...

Freeze, son of a bitch!

Stop, motherfucker! Fuck!

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

Fate delivered Clipper to the hands of God.

When you are on the top, you can see everything.

In my case,

I loved to see the airplanes landing at the airport,

the cars passing on the Brazil Avenue.

You see the world out there,

so you realize this is not the whole world.

There are things beyond.

We that are from the favela have the bad habit

of thinking that the favela is the world.

But when you go out there, you can see more.

You can see another world.

This changed my mind.

Made me want to go further.

After the City of God movie, things were hard for me.

I didn't have a job, I couldn't get work and I needed to make some money.

I wanted to record my album, I wanted to record my songs.

And so the way I found to make money was selling peanuts.

And so every time I go on the bus someone asked me:

"Fuck, what's up, Rubinho?

You were in City of God,

you made a shitload of money and now you are selling peanuts on the bus?"

And I say, "Hey, brother, what can I do? It's a struggle.

I had no other option, so now I sell peanuts."

That's how I keep my dignity until someday,

I get a real opportunity to do something cool on TV,

or record some songs, you know?

If those doors open again, I'll quit selling peanuts,

but until I find some work in music, movies, theater,

I'll keep on selling my peanuts.

That's how managed to survive at this moment,

selling peanuts.

That's it, I'm next in line.

In the last ten years,

every day I asked myself:

Can a work of art change someone's life?

What do you say?

After City of God, some of the actors and the

directors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund

created the "Cinema Nosso" Audiovisual School.

Nowadays, there are many film groups in the favelas

and a new generation of filmmakers

has emerged in Brazil.

The sun shall glow again

And the light shall reach the hearts

And evil's seed will be burned off

Love will be everlasting once again

It's the final judgment

The battles of good and evil

I want to have eyes so I can see

Evilness disappear.

The sun shall glow again

And the light shall reach the hearts

And evil's seed will be burned off

Love will be everlasting once again