Brazilian-born film director Katia Lund will discuss "Stories Behind and Beyond Brazil's 'City of God'" on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in the Stata Center's Kirsch Auditorium.
Lund co-directed the Oscar-nominated 2002 film "City of God," a fictionalized look at how armed drug gangs came to dominate the poverty-stricken favela (or slum) areas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the 1970s and '80s.
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Editing, Best Photography and Best Adapted Screenplay, although Lund was not officially an Oscar co-nominee.
Lund has also created music videos for some of Brazil's most popular and outspoken rock and hip-hop groups. She was working on the production of pop singer Michael Jackson's video for "They Don't Care About Us" in 1996 when she first came in contact with the drug bosses that controlled Rio's Dona Marta favela and became fascinated with their lives.
While at MIT from Feb. 21-24, Lund will tour labs and meet with students, faculty and staff.
In conjunction with her visit, the Lecture Series Committee (LSC) will screen two of her films: "Central Station" on Friday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. in Room 26-100 and "City of God" on Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. in Room 26-100 and on Sunday, Feb. 19, at 10 p.m. in Room 10-250. Admission to LSC films costs $3.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 15, 2006 (download PDF).
