noteworthy wrote:
If you liked City of God, check this out.

Premiering this month on Sundance Channel is the hit Brazilian television series CITY OF MEN. A comedy/drama about two teenage boys growing up in a dangerous Rio De Janeiro slum, CITY OF MEN was created by the team behind the Academy Award-nominated feature CITY OF GOD, including that film's directors Fernando Meirelles (THE CONSTANT GARDNER) and Kátia Lund. The series stars Darlan Cunha and Douglas Silva, who were also featured in CITY OF GOD. The first season airs starting in April, but watch for seasons two and three to follow shortly thereafter.

Set in the present day, the series mixes comedy and drama as it follows the struggles, schemes, and dreams of Acerelo (Douglas Silva) and Laranjinha (Darlan Cunha), thirteen year-old best friends trying to lead normal lives in an impoverished favela. In many respects, Acerelo and Laranjinha are ordinary teenagers, interested in videogames, the latest sneakers, and girls. But they live in a place where violence is an everyday occurrence and outsiders rightly fear to tread; a neighborhood where drug barons impose their own kind of moral code and serve as community authorities, hearing complaints, providing aid, and imposing punishment.

It is only now coming to the US, but it aired on BBC 4 in 2004. There are some exclusive interviews at the BBC site that may be of interest.

Good call! Tivoing now.