Brazilian Filmmaker Keeps His Focus on Globalization

In high school, he began researching foreign films for his school Cine Club, a hobby that became a lifetime vocation.

Meirelles studied architecture in college, a field he still loves, but the only house he ever designed and built is his own in Sao Paolo. "It was during my days in university when I first thought about doing film to make a living," he said. For his academic thesis, which was about big cities and urban living, he departed from tradition and produced a video documentary.

"I love architecture because I like spaces, and I believe I am good at understanding spaces and knowing where I am," he said.

He and a crew of friends later founded the innovative film company Olhar Eletronico, which produced comic news shows and a popular children's series for Brazilian public television in 1989.

He later branched out into commercials. But after 10 years, he became bored, despite the material success and huge clientele he had built up. "I was not learning new things and I felt my life had stopped."

Paulo Lins 's novel "City of God" shocked Meirelles with its description of despair in the favelas , the crowded slums festering under the noses of more privileged Brazilians.

Now his company, 02 Films, is the biggest production company in Brazil.

He would like to continue working on films with Brazilian themes, similar to the way Spanish director Pedro Almodovar produces Spanish films for international audiences "while keeping his roots." "I like the way he deals with his topics," Meirelles said, listing Almodovar's "All About My Mother" and "Talk To Her," two films set in Spain that deal with such issues as homosexuality, prostitution and friendship. "He does what he wants to do in his country, but for others."

Meirelles and his wife of 21 years have a 20-year-old son and a 16-year-old daughter. Meirelles said he had turned down "hundreds" of offers from Hollywood to direct big productions, saying he would miss his family during long periods away from home and because "the stories I want to tell are my stories, not studio stories."