'City of God' Producer Donald Ranvaud dies at 62

Toronto: Producer of the film "City of God" and film journalist Donald Ranvaud collapsed while attending the Montreal World Film Festival as a juror. He was 62.

A festival spokeswoman on Monday confirmed Ranvaud's death without specifying the cause of his sudden demise, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The country's French-language public broadcaster reported that Ranvaud was discovered dead in his Montreal hotel room on Monday.

The final night awards ceremony which took place later on Monday was toned down and a moment of silence was observed after news of Ranvaud's death passed through a shocked festival. 

"He was a very good friend of all of us and the festival, he was the life of the party," a spokeswoman said.

In addition to "City of God" and "Central Station", Ranvaud had producing credits on a number of other Academy Award-nominated films, including director Fernando Meirelles' "The Constant Gardener" -- for which actress Rachel Weisz earned an Oscar for best supporting actress -- and "Farewell My Concubine". 

His links to Chinese films in the early 1990s gave way to Latin America, where he shifted his focus after moving to Brazil in 1994.