Biography

Fernando Meirelles was born in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. He studied architecture at the University of São Paulo. At the same time, he developed an interest in filmmaking. With a group of friends he started producing experimental videos and video art. They won a huge number of awards in Brazilian video festivals. After that, the group formed a small independent company called "Olhar Eletrônico". After working in independent television during nine years in the eighties, Meirelles gravitated towards publicity and commercials for Brazilian television. In the early 90s, together with Paulo Morelli and Andrea Barata Ribeiro, he founded the "O2 Filmes" production company which became the biggest production company in Brazil, working from development until distribution, including complete post-production facilities. In 1997 he read the Brazilian best-seller "City of God", written by Paulo Lins, and decided to turn it into a movie despite an the intimidating story that involves more than 350 characters. Once the the screenplay was ready, Meirelles gathered a crew mixed with professional technicians and inexperienced actors chosen between the youngsters living in the slums surrounding Rio de Janeiro. The film was a huge success in Brazil attracted attention around the world after it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002. For his work in the film, Meirelles was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. Since then, Meirelles has split his time between film and TV series. He also directed "The Constant Gardner" (2005), which received four Academy nominations. Also "Blindness" (2008), "The Two Popes" (2019). He also directed several series for TV Globo and HBO in Brazil like "Pico da Neblina" (2019). In addition, Meirelles was one of the directors of the 2016 Olympic ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.