Fernando Meirelles' next to be on climate change, hopes to film in India

Mumbai: Oscar-nominated filmmaker Fernando Meirelles on Tuesday said he's planning to shoot his next, a Netflix project on climate change, in India in 2020.

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The Brazilian director, best known for his critically-acclaimed mafia drama "City of God", "Constant Gardener" and "Two Popes", said he tries to put some hope in his films which deal with delicate issues but "to be honest nowadays I'm not very hopeful about our future" due to the climate crisis.

"My next one is about climate change, it's my obsession now. If you read science, you'll get really scared. The best way to not be scared is not knowing about it. I think I've read too much already!," Meirelles said during a masterclass at the Jio MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star.

When asked what drove him to make a film on climate change, the director said, "My fear. I am not going to tell what the film will be but hopefully it'll be shot in September, it'll be a Netflix project. I am passionate about the issue. The biggest problem with climate crisis is that we really don't have time.

"There's no time to discuss anymore, it's time to act. People usually don't like to read or talk about climate crisis because it's quite scary. So my challenge in the film is to make it watchable, a film which engages people and doesn't annoy them. I think it's coming out quite nice."

In his conversation with film critic Anupama Chopra, Meirelles, 63, also expressed a possibility of shooting a sequence of the project in India.

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"Yesterday, I was told that, because I had some sequences in Bangladesh, I should shoot in India. So there's a good, new reason for me to come back!"

Meirelles, whose latest "Two Popes" is playing at the festival, was given the Excellence in Cinema award.

The filmmaker said he was honoured to receive the award and also offered a word of advice.

"We don't see much Indian films in the world, I think your society is very self sufficient regarding films. You do your own films and you watch your own films! You should share your films. This festival is very important to share your cinema to the world."

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(PTI)