José Padilha, director of the film 'Tropa de Elite', is moved by the fans' screams at the Maracanã

Because of Flamengo, filmmaker José Padilha, a die-hard Flamengo fan and grandson of a former club president, had at least one moment of joy in the controversy surrounding the piracy of his film "Elite Squad," which had already caused him many headaches. During a Flamengo game at the Maracanã stadium, some fans imitated characters from the film in the stands, which left the director emotional.

"Although I'm against piracy, I'm a Flamengo fan first and foremost. I was at home and a friend called me from Maracanã after Souza missed a penalty to say the fans were chanting "Zero one, ask to leave!", which is one of the lines from the film. There were about 40 people. It moved me," Padilha said in an interview with Jô Soares on Monday night (watch the video below).

"Elite Squad" is one of the most anticipated Brazilian film releases of 2007. The film has already been screened at the Rio Film Festival and will be released nationwide on October 12th (watch the official trailer in the video below). The film will premiere in Rio and São Paulo next Friday. However, long before that, it was already being sold by street vendors in Rio de Janeiro. A copy of the film was stolen and pirated.

José Padilha is the grandson of José Bastos Padilha, former president of Flamengo responsible for starting the construction of the Gávea stadium, which bears his name, in 1933. Furthermore, the filmmaker is the godson of journalist Mário Filho, brother of Nelson Rodrigues (illustrious Fluminense fan) and who named Maracanã.

"Mário Filho said he didn't have a team, but it was Flamengo. My whole family knows that," he revealed.

Upon learning that Fluminense's board had shown a pirated copy of "Tropa de Elite" to the players during the training camp, the director joked with a piracy expert present on "Programa do Jô":

- I wanted to know if they could return to the Second Division because of this.