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Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema)
Under the guidance of filmmaker Katia Lund and other cinema professionals, (We in Cinema) was originally founded to train the award-winning cast for roles in the Brazilian film
City of God
(Golden Globe nominee and Brazilian entry for the Oscars in 2003). The project, now serving over 200 boys and girls from Rio de Janeiro’s poorest neighborhoods, has been structured into a program that offers a winning solution to the problems that youth have in the favelas. Access to information, training in media skills, an introduction to the formal job market, and a powerful means of self-expression, give disadvantaged youth a unique opportunity to voice their realities through audio-visual works. Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema) empowers these young people as they explore, discover, rewrite and appropriate their own image and history.
With almost no outside support, the Cinema Nosso(Nós do Cinema/ We in Cinema) group has remained united and active since the end of the film’s production in August, 2001. They have received training from field professionals and have worked as actors and technicians in other very successful productions, such as the hit series
City of Men,
which airs weekly on Brazil’s largest television network, Globo Televison. In addition to their award-winning acting performances, they have also produced four original short films in the past year. One of these, entitled
Citizen Silva,
won Best Fiction Short at the São Carlos International Short Film Festival. Through their work with Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema), many group members have accessed internships and job contracts.
Besides serving in TV and film productions and making their own films for the public, Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema) has developed an outreach program to share their work and create new connections in a sharply divided society. Group members actively organize events and workshops in private schools, where
City of God
and their own films are shown. Open discussions provoke groundbreaking dialogue between youngsters from opposite ends of the social spectrum - bridging the gap with increased understanding between youth normally isolated from one another.
Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema) offers participants training by professionals in basic communications (writing, computers, etc.) and specific training in areas such as directing, screenwriting, journalistic writing, lighting, sound, photography, production, and computer science. Experienced participants complete the cycle by returning and teaching workshops for newcomers. Participants also have access to the Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema) Talent Agency, where they obtain access to the job market as actors, models and technicians following their training. In this way they achieve gainful employment while diversifying the market.
In addition to addressing the specific needs of marginalized youth, such as education, computer skills and citizenship, the success and survival of Cinema Nosso (Nós Do Cinema/We in Cinema) provides Brazilian society with a dearly needed source of very visible positive role models and agents of social integration. Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema) goes a step beyond offering a life path to individuals, providing positive representation and constructive role models for millions.
From 2001 until today, 470 children from more than 20 communities in Rio de Janeiro, Duque de Caxias, Belford Roxo and São Gonçalo participated in the 17 courses and, approximately 50 workshops promoted by the Cinema Nosso (Nós do Cinema/We in Cinema)Audiovisual Educational School. The classes, initially given in Botafogo, also take place in São Gonçalo. There are both practical and theoretical classes of dramatic arts, literature, script, direction, photography, camera, sound, art, costume, production, edition, animation and movie history. As well as computing, story telling workshops, writing classes, Portuguese and technical classes to learn how to work with the equipment.
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