It’s been a minute because the hit 1976 Brazilian telenovela “The Slave Isaura” (“A Escrava Isaura”) captivated a file 300+ million viewers in China however RioFilme is aiming to make a splash this 12 months with three titles on the twenty eighth Shanghai International Film Festival.
‘The Slave Isaura’ Courtesy of RioFilme
Backed by the state-owned movie company, “Luiza’s Desert” (“O Deserto de Luiza”) vies for the Golden Goblet within the competition’s most important competitors whereas “The Fabulous Time Machine” (“A Fabulosa Máquina do Tempo”) is within the documentary sidebar and “Heart of Darkness” (“Coração das Trevas”) in animation.
Led by its president Leonardo Edde, RioFilme additionally hopes to drum up enterprise within the powerhouse Asian nation because it seeks to place Rio de Janeiro firmly on the cinematic map.
Leonardo Edde, president of RioFilme
“One of my main goals is to bring new opportunities back to Rio and help attract larger international co-productions. We already have a strong production services sector, but we want to go beyond that and become a hub for major co-productions as well,” he instructed Selection.
Most just lately “Godzilla vs. Kong – The New Empire” shot in Rio in addition to Netflix motion sequence “Man on Fire,” starring Emmy-winner Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Alice Braga. In previous years, the coastal metropolis hosted “The Fast & The Furious” 5 & 10, “The Expendables” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” amongst others.
Its different goal is to extend its exports—not solely by offering manufacturing companies but additionally by exporting Brazilian content material and mental property.
“That’s one of the reasons I’m going to Shanghai. Right now, many countries and companies are looking to engage with the Chinese market, but our interest goes beyond simply accessing that audience. We also want to attract Chinese investment to Rio,” he stated, including: “There are many similarities between our industries, particularly in the way we view the audiovisual sector as a driver of economic growth through technology, innovation and infrastructure. I’m going there to start that conversation, explore potential partnerships and better understand what we can build together.”
Powered by a new investment package unveiled by Rio Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere at confab Rio2C in May, Rio de Janeiro’s objective to additional bolster its movie and TV industries has grown ever extra tangible.
This bundle of $30 million in 2026 and US$43 million in 2027/28 consists of public insurance policies, grant packages and initiatives.
The artistic economic system already accounts for five.2% of the state of Rio de Janeiro’s GDP, making it one of many strongest artistic economies in Brazil, Edde identified.
Between 2021 and the primary quarter of 2026, the Rio de Janeiro Metropolis Corridor, by RioFilme, invested roughly $54.5 million in additional than 600 audiovisual initiatives.
Past its manufacturing energy, Rio is Brazil’s main marketplace for home cinema, accounting for a mean of 71% of audiences and 70% of field workplace income between 1995 and 2024. In 2024, the state launched 68 movies – practically matching its all-time file set in 2017.
Later this 12 months, Rio will as soon as once more provide its Money Rebate Grant, a rolling program with a $3 million finances to help audiovisual productions. Eligible Brazilian productions from exterior Rio and worldwide initiatives can obtain rebates of as much as 30% of qualifying native bills, whereas productions with Rio de Janeiro as their main filming location could qualify for rebates of as much as 35%.
Based in 1992, what started as a distribution firm grew into what it’s in the present day, an company with a mission to develop Rio’s audiovisual trade, from growth and manufacturing to distribution and even exhibition. Following the South Korean mannequin, it’s providing film vouchers to public college youth in a bid to revive viewers attendance to not less than pre-Covid ranges.
The 28th Shanghai Worldwide Movie Pageant kicked off on June 12 and wraps June 21.
