Fernando Meirelles

Fernando Meirelles was born in São Paulo, Brazil on 9th November 1955. He is a director by profession and has even produced and wrote many movies. His father, José de Souza Meirelles is a gastroenterologist and used to travel to different regions for his work through this Fernando was exposed to different cultures and traditions which can be seen in his work which deals with a lot on the subject of culture and literature.

His mother, Sônia Junqueira Ferreira Meirelles is an Interior designer. Fernando had a brother who was elder to him and died in a car accident, he has two sisters who have graduated in filmmaking and psychology. He owns a farm and says that it’s a sort of family tradition to return to their hometown and spend their holidays in a farm.

Fernando was interested in filmmaking since he was small, his father used to make short films for his work which drove Fernando’s attention and at the mere age of 13 he started to make movies which were based on the animation work by Norman McLaren. At the University of São Paulo, he studied Architecture and Urban Planning and made a film with special enhanced cameras from Japan and presented it for his graduation.

While he was at the University he took up filmmaking as a hobby and took lessons for it. Fernando along with his friends started the Other Electronics and started to make short TV programs based on current affairs and some children program and started to air it, the programs achieved huge TRP ratings and were loved by the children.

The program created 180 episodes and was one of the greatest hits during that time. Soon the company was shut and later opened O2 which was only concerned with the production of advertisement, the company became well known for its work and popular in ten years of its start.

In 2002, Fernando directed City ofGod; the movie was based on Paulo Lin’s book, the movie deals with the growing drug problems and organized crimes in a small city in Rio. The film received huge appreciation and was nominated for four Oscar categories and grossed $30 million worldwide.

He moved to Hollywood and directed the Constant Gardener which was again a blockbuster hit and received the huge response from the audience. His last project Rio I Love You was released in 2014. Fernando has also been a part of many TV series and has received numerous awards and nominations. He is a winner of Cinema Brazil Grand Prize and ACIE Award, and nominated for several other award.