- Kátia Lund
Kátia Lund (b. 1966 in
São Paulo ) is an American-Brazil ianfilm director andscreenwriter . Her most notable work was as co-director of the film "City of God".Lund's parents are Americans who emigrated to
Brazil before she was born. She graduated from Escola Maria Imaculada, an AmericanCatholic school in São Paulo where she excelled inart . She then attendedBrown University where she became interested infilmmaking . After she graduatedmagna cum laude , she landed jobs as anassistant director on manymusic videos ,commercials and films. Having grown up in amiddle-class family, she had little knowledge of the plight of those living inRio de Janeiro 's "favelas ." Then, she was hired to work on theSpike Lee -directed music video forMichael Jackson 's "They Don't Care About Us " which was filmed in a favela. The experience opened her eyes and she became determined to make films about the dwellers of these poor neighborhoods to help raisesocial consciousness in Brazil. She has caused controversy for her friendship with, and admiration for, deceased drug dealer Marcinho VP.In 1996, she began work on the documentary "Notícias de uma Guerra Particular (News of a Private War)", an exploration of the ongoing battle between the favelas' heavily armed
drug dealers (many of whom are small children) andRio de Janeiro 's police. It was released in 1999 to critical acclaim and was nominated for anEmmy after airing onPBS . The success of the film made her an in-demand director of music videos for Brazil's hip-hop artists. She won numerousMTV Video Music Awards Latin America .In 2001, Lund was invited by
Fernando Meirelles to co-direct "Golden Gate (Palace II)", ashort film about two young boys in a favela. The film won several awards infilm festivals all over the world. Lund and Meirelles continued their collaboration with the film "City of God" which received international acclaim and was nominated for fourAcademy Awards . The success of that film was the springboard for the television series "City of Men ", a continuation of the story told in "Golden Gate". Lund produced the show with Meirelles and directed four episodes. The show was a major hit in Brazil.Lund oversees an organization called Nós do Cinema (We of Cinema), which began with the young people from the cast of "City of God" who are real dwellers of Rio’s favelas. Nós do Cinema offers courses and job opportunities in films to poor children and holds screenings and discussions that help to raise social consciousness through film. She also directed a segment of the film "
All the Invisible Children ".External links
*imdb name|id=0526199|name=Kátia Lund
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