CAFx x Cinemateket: City of God
Join us for Big City Nights at the Cinematek rooftop as we bringing you to Rio De Janeiro
"Truly as if you were there yourself," wrote Politiken about City of God, adding: "Which is both frightening, but also fascinating and enlightening."
The film is a coming-of-age gangster drama set in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. We follow the unruly youths Bene, Zé Pequeno, and Buscapé in the neighborhood with the fittingly ironic name Cidade de Deus – City of God.
"A rare combination of gripping action and deeply moving social realism," said Per Juul Carlsen on Filmland.
About Big City Nights
Join us for Big City Nights a film screening series bringing you to metropolises across the world from a rooftop in Copenhagen.
In this series, the city is more than just a backdrop. It serves as a crossroads of fate, where people meet and their lives take new directions. Architecture, distances, and population density all shape human relationships.
The films find their mood in the tension between public and private space. In other words, these are films that don't merely take place in a recognizable city—they are fundamentally rooted in it. Like a living organism, each city has its own rhythm and logic: sometimes grand and imposing, other times chaotic and untidy.
The big city also invites a distinctly cinematic way of thinking, creating intensely sensory worlds of light, sound, and texture—traffic noise, neon signs, building façades, night and day. From iconic metropolises to less obvious destinations—yes, Aarhus is included too—Big City Nights explores how cinema has portrayed the many facets of urban life over the years.
If you've already been to Rio, you'll recognize the atmosphere. If you're dreaming of Paris, Singapore, or Barcelona, this is a great place to start. Or gather a few friends for an evening of '80s nostalgia with Aarhus by Night. These films are made to be experienced together.
An important part of the experience is that every screening takes place at Himmelbio, the open-air rooftop cinema overlooking Copenhagen. Arrive early, take in the view, and perhaps bring a drink from the Filmtaget Café inside with you.
