Writing

Paulo Lins

Born 1958-06-11 · Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Acting credits

City of God poster
8.4

In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.

City of God

2002

No artwork available
7.0

Documentary focusing on Brazilian samba singer Bezerra da Silva and the composers he chooses to record: simple people, workers living in the poor slums of Rio de Janeiro and its suburbs.

Coruja

2001

The Screenwriter poster
8.0

32 renowned Brazilian screenwriters of the contemporary Brazilian cinema talk about their creative processes. From the concept of script to their agreements and disagreements, going through their experiences with filmmakers, their reaction to the finished film, critic, and even controversies on auteurism.

The Screenwriter

2012

Straight to the Point poster
NR

Documentary about the singer Bezerra da Silva and the relation with his composers.

Straight to the Point

2012

Ballad of Return poster
6.6

One day, Eduardo arrives at his house and discovers that Julia, his wife, tried to commit suicide. She left her husband and two children without saying goodbye. After some time, she comes back home. He tries everything to set her straight, but the impossibility of knowing her fully grieves him. The shadow of the suicide and the inevitable ghost of a new chance hover over their heads. Eduardo insists on understanding his wife, but an increasing jealousy and an unexpected discovery of her past torture him. He does not realize that, most of the time, the search for control easily becomes an obsession.

Ballad of Return

2016

News from a Personal War poster
7.8

A documentary about urban violence in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro. Policemen, drug dealers, and shantytown dwellers get trapped in a daily war that knows no winners.

News from a Personal War

1999

Rio 50 Degrees: Carry on CaRIOca poster
NR

A look at Rio's cultural, political and technical revolutions since the 1970s to 2011

Rio 50 Degrees: Carry on CaRIOca

2014

Behind the camera

Buscapé poster
NR

With executive production by Fernando Meirelles and direction by Fred Luz, actors Alexandre Rodrigues and Edson Oliveira are Buscapé and Barbantinho, two friends who meet again in today's City of God: bigger, more diverse and connected.

Buscapé

2022

Maré, Our Love Story poster
5.9

Free adaptation of Romeo and Juliet translated to the harsh life in Favela da Maré, one of largest and most violent slums in Rio de Janeiro. Living in a slum divided between two rival gangs of drug traffickers, Analídia is the daughter of one of the gangs' leaders and Jonathan is a childhood friend of the other gang leader. Both study in a dance group situated exactly in the middle of the two territories, looking for solace in art.

Maré, Our Love Story

2008

Orfeu poster
5.4

Orfeu is a popular composer from a samba school. He lives in the favela and falls madly in love when he meets Euridice, a newcomer to the neighborhood. But the local drug boss Lucinho stands between them and will drastically change both their lives.

Orfeu

1999

Brazilian Western poster
6.3

When João goes to Brazil in search of a better life, he meets punk music enthusiast Maria and falls in love with her. But his involvement in the local drug trade makes him the target of a vicious drug lord.

Brazilian Western

2013

M8 - When Death Rescues Life poster
7.2

When Maurício becomes a student at a top medical school, he becomes obsessed with a mystery linked to the dead bodies used for dissection.

M8 - When Death Rescues Life

2019

Almost Brothers poster
5.8

The strange friendship between two men of opposite social classes. Miguel is a senator. His childhood friend Jorge is a major drug-dealer. In the 1970s, they meet in prison: Miguel was there for political reasons, and Jorge, as a common criminal.

Almost Brothers

2004

Palace II poster
6.8

Two young boys, Laranjinha and Acerola, living in Cidade de Deus, one of the most violent neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, need some money to go to a concert. The "easiest" (and most dangerous) way to get it is working for some drug-dealers.

Palace II

2000