The Brazilian film community is still concerned about the acclaim it received at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Kleber Mendonça Filho received the Best Director award for his film. Secret agent Wagner Moura took home the Best Actor award for his role in the same film in the first two films for a country that prides itself on its cinema, and has done so since the industry first took hold there in the late 1890s.
Filho’s multi-layered political thriller demonstrated the power of contemporary Brazilian cinema, and built on the international success of veteran director Walter Salles. I’m still herewhich arrived at the Cannes market last year as the country’s first Best International Feature Film Oscar winner, has been optioned by Sony Pictures Classics for the North American and international markets.
Eyes have also been drawn to Brazil’s role as nation of honor at the 2025 Marché du, and the industry is now determined to keep the world’s focus fixed in 2026.
Brazilian production company RT Features leads the way this year, with Dominga Sotomayor’s lyrical tale of a woman haunted by childhood trauma. La Pera – Championship I’m still here Silton Melo – In Two Weeks Directors and International Crime Drama, Brazilian Co-Production, paper tigerIt is a film directed by James Gray and starring Adam Driver and Scarlett, In competition.
The buzz continues to grow, and Ilda Santiago, Executive Director of International Programs and Projects at the Festival do Rio, is keen to explain how Brazil’s local industry continues to expand in terms of confidence and creativity.
“Brazilian cinema is looked at at a higher level, and it has created great expectations for the coming years, but we have been around for a long time,” she says. “As much as we might consider this a surprise, it is not. We have lived through bad and good years, in government, public policies and internal issues. However, the creativity and desire to tell stories have never let us down, as well as the strength to keep going. So the industry in Brazil has become stronger and more resilient, and now we can be more confident that our stories have interest in the world.”
There is a full schedule of performances and events along the Croisette this year that Santiago believes will support these claims. With support from RioFilme, Santiago and her team are, for the second year in a row, submitting five projects in post-production to screen on Goes to Cannes on May 15 – all of which they hope to emulate the success of Cynthia Doumit-Bitar’s project. Gifted peopleWhich won the initiative’s grand prize in 2025.
This year’s list includes the autobiography of Jefferson D Carolina Maria de Jesus And Joe Serfatti’s environmental drama Beyond the edge – Two co-productions between Brazil and France – in addition to the horror film directed by Mago de Paiva and Bernardo Florem. days of fire, Thais Fujinaga’s family drama talented, The thriller film directed by Fabio Mendonça Personality.
Other Brazilian initiatives include the Dejeuner Carioca Lunch – also taking place on May 15 and hosted by Globo, Festival do Rio and RioFilme with the aim of providing a networking platform. It is invitation-only and will feature speakers including Santiago, Alex Medeiros, Gabriel Jacome – Director of Drama, Documentary and Film, and Director of TV Content at Brazilian broadcasting giants Globo – and Leonardo Ede, President Director of RioFilme.
Festival do Rio is also behind Matinee Bresil on May 18 – with support from Globo, RioFilme, Spcine, Embratur and the Brazilian government’s Ministry of Culture – and will feature a day full of panels and presentations as the organization continues “strategic efforts to put Brazilian audiovisual content on the world stage.”
Santiago is of course keen to talk about the sights of her home city as well, having been used as a backdrop for sales pitches. I’m still here, And for other locally produced classics including City of God (2002) And Salis Central Station in 1998. Locals will tell you that Rio is Brazil’s film city, and the Rio Festival Fact Sheet tells us that 10 percent of Brazilian cinemas can be found in the city, serving 16 percent of the total market, and up to 1.46 million viewers.
“Rio de Janeiro has always been at the heart of Brazilian cinema,” says Santiago. “It was a meeting point of great energy and talent during the Cinema Novo movement, a period of cultural ferment in Brazil that radically changed our view of the world – and of ourselves – in the 1960s. Over the decades, Rio became an iconic postcard of Brazil, the backdrop for a plethora of productions and for discussion of the politics of Brazilian cinema.”
This creative legacy is now a competitive advantage, Santiago says. “It is a city that reflects the country’s social contradictions and its diversity. A city that has created emotion and imagination across the planet. Rio remains a creative hub, with a strong audiovisual ecosystem that includes production companies, studios and talent. Rio is a great location but it is so much more than that.”
It is also a city keen to welcome international filmmakers, having been used in the past to produce blockbuster films such as Fast five (2011) and The amazing structure (2008). Rio is home to a number of major studios and last year hosted 28 international productions. Meanwhile, the official claim is that 90 percent of the country’s office revenue came from films produced in the city from 1995 to 2024..
The incentives include an injection of the equivalent of 30 percent of audiovisual production expenditures by RioFilme into “eligible expenditures within the City of Rio de Janeiro” while “for production proposals where the City of Rio de Janeiro is the primary location, the amount invested by RioFilme may correspond to 35 percent.”
“Riofilme – through the Rio Film Commission – offers a strong cash discount and logistical support for any production,” explains Santiago. “From locations to studios and high-level equipment: everything is here. We are eager to welcome crews and creators from all over the world and from other parts of Brazil. Special co-production agreements can also be considered depending on the project.”
The results are starting to appear.
“Rio ranked highly,” Santiago adds [globally] The number of filming days has increased over the past years and the number of international productions coming here to use the city for different locations is increasing. We are working to make Rio a preferential center for audiovisual arts, in the same way that it is a strong reference for Brazilian cinema globally.
