Technological – City of God is well known for it’s experimental editing – including montages, still frames, flashbacks, change of colour grading and text overlays.

Historical – The film is based on a 1997 novel of the same name by Paulo Lins, which detailed the true events of life inside the favelas. The likes of Rocket, Lil Ze and Knockout Ned were all real people who experienced what spectators saw on screen.

Social – 20 percent of Brazil’s population live in complete poverty, which is roughly 32 million people. Therefore it was important for City of God to accurately represent such a large amount of people.

Political – In 2002, when City of God was produced, President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva led the first left-wing Brazilian Government in over 40 years.

Institutional – Several production companies, mainly Brazilian ones such as TV Globo and O2 Filmes, were involved with the making of City of God. Internationally, it was distributed by Miramax, a successful company known for releasing international and independent films.