RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) The opening and closing ceremonies for the Rio Olympics and Paralympics will be low-budget productions compared to three years ago in London, or in Beijing in 2008.
Fernando Meirelles, the Brazilian filmmaker and part of the creative team, estimated Tuesday that Rio will spend one-tenth what London did on four major ceremonies.
Meirelles, who directed the film ''City of God,'' is aware that Brazil is mired in recession, inflation has reached 10 percent and the country is beset with political and economic upheaval.
Meirelles says he would be ''ashamed to waste what London spent in a country where we need sanitation'' and that he is ''very glad we're not spending money like crazy.''
London spent about 80 million pounds ($104 million at 2012 exchange rates) on the four ceremonies.
