I finally watched "City of God" (Cidade de Deus). Very good movie by Fernando Meirelles (many may know him as the director of The Constant Gardner).
Since I don't understand Portuguese (but realised that Portuguese Creole, which they speak in the movie and in many parts of Brasil is actually pretty close to the creole I speak), I have never seen any Brazilian movies before. I tend not to watch many movies that are in languages I don't understand to be honest.
In any case, it is a 2002 movie, based on the real events during the childhood of a photographer, 'Rocket', depicting the terrible era of gang warfare in the ghettoes of Rio. This one is not for the faint hearted.