About the Film

Kidnapping is big business in Brazil, a country with one of the world’s largest gaps between rich and poor. In Sao Paulo, where someone is kidnapped every three days on average, “Ransom City” explores a twist in Brazil’s dangerous crime fad as the mothers of five celebrity soccer players are abducted and held for ransom in a six month period. The film follows Sao Paulo’s anti-kidnapping squad as they risk their lives investigating these kidnappings, and also profiles kidnappers who explain the rationale behind their life of crime. As the Brazilian team winds down from the 2006 World Cup soccer championship, WIDE ANGLE captures the stark contrasts between the haves and the have-nots in this crime-ridden, soccer-crazed nation.