Mariana Just Mariana - Film Director & Photography

Cidade de Deus

Being in the right place at the right time is a gift that I carry with me. Being able to witness one of the most important movies in the history of the Brazilian film industry, it was a blessing that I received and I am very appreciative for! The director of photography Cesar Charlonne was and still is to me an icon of cinematography, he was my stepmother's roommate in college and whenever I had the opportunity to watch him close, I was there.

One day I knew he was working on a short film called "Palace ll" which would be an experiment for a big project of the movie City of God. I was glued on him and got to participate in the completion of the short film material in the laboratory of photography. Caesar is a genius in post production and knew all the laboratory tricks.

In parallel to that. I was always around the hip hop/rap circles watching all the video clips of Hype Williams, who had shot a feature in 1998 called Belly about the ghetto in NYC. I thought that both Caesar and Fernando Meirelles would like to watch this, so I gave them the DVD movie. The movie was marked by black skins smeared in oil and lights reflected on their bodies. That aesthetic must have inspired the two of them, because I see a lot of this look in City of God.

When they started to shoot, Caesar invited me to visit the set ( take out location) and I took advantage of this and was able to take as many pictures as I could. It was an unforgettable afternoon in the City of God.

At the end of the day, Cesar was very tired because of the pace of filming, so he handed me his camera belt with the photometer and spot metering and from the door of the van where they were waiting for Fernando Meirelles and the director Katia Lund, he told me: " - Go there, choose tomorrow’s location for me, I will rest assured that you will get me 2.1 of aperture ". I was so delighted with that act of trust, he has no idea of how much self confidence and self esteem he injected in me through my life and career! Thanks Cesar Charlonne! So, I was able to choose the external location at Urca for the home of the journalist in the movie City of God with the directors Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund!

FULL GALLERY