The film “Troop of the Elite”, from Director Jose Padilha, was awarded in the Berlin International Film Festival with the Golden Bear for Best screenplay, during the ceremony of closing of 58ª edition of the Berlinale.

The last time that a Brazilian film has won the Golden Bear was in 1998, with “Central do Brasil”, of Walter Salles Jr. The actress Fernanda Montenegro, protagonist of the film, at the time conquered the Silver Bear for best actress on the paper of Dora, that writes letters for illiterates.

The movie “Tropa de Elite”, set in 1997, depicts the story of Captain Nascimento, a BOPE¹ captain, who with the imminent birth of his first child, is determined to leave the battalion and find a safer position for the sake of his family, but first he must find a suitable replacement for him. At the same time, the movie focuses on two childhood friends, Matias and Neto, who become cadets in the military police, but become discouraged at the corruption surrounding them. Eventually, both Nascimento and the cadets’ paths intersect, when the captain hopes that one of the two may become the substitute he is eager to find, as both decide to join the BOPE.

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¹ BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais, or Special Police Operations Battalion), is the elite group of the Military Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.