The 27th edition of the Rio International Film Festival, Latin America’s largest fest, will take place between Oct. 2-12 and feature a record number of productions in Premiere Brasil, the selection dedicated to local films in and out-of-competition.
Premiere Brasil will comprise a total of 124 productions, including features and shorts film, in addition to the premieres of four TV series, the highest number in the history of the Rio Film Festival or any other fest edition in Brazil.
The record high number reflects the strength of the local production sector, says Ilda Santiago, Rio Fest’s Executive Director, Programming & Int’l Projects. In 2024, a total of 312 local features were theatrically released in Brazil. This year, in the Jan. to Sept. 10 period, 260 features were launched in local theaters.
For this edition, the fest selected the 124 productions out of over 300 submissions of feature films and about 1,000 submissions of short films.
“Producers and distributors aim to premiere their films in Rio, because they know they will gain a lot of visibility here, from the press, critics, moviegoers and film community,” Santiago tells Variety. “Premiere Brasil is the biggest showcase of local films in the country.”
“Sexa,” courtesy of Rio Film Festival
Premiere Brasil is divided in competitive and non-competitive sections. The competition for the Redentor prize includes sub sections for Fiction, Docs and Novos Rumos (the sidebar for new directors). Non-competition includes Out-of-Competition, Clássicos Restaurados for heritage cinema, Retratos (films profiling people or institutions), Geração (films for kids and teens), À Meia Noite (horror films), Especial Séries Brasileiras (series) and O Estado das Coisas , dedicated to docs dealing with current affairs, this year with a focus on the environment.
11 features will compete for the Redentor fiction prize. The list includes veteran directors such as Murilo Salles (“A Vida de Cada Um,” centered on the relationship of a brutal police captain and his three kids), Marcelo Gomes (co-director with Maria Clara Escobar of “Dolores,” depicting an elderly woman who dreams of becoming a casino owner) and José Eduardo Belmonte (“Quase Deserto,” about two men, a Brazilian and an Argentine, who witnessed a murder in Detroit).
“Night Act,” about an actor-politician couple who enjoy having sex in public, was directed by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher, winners of the Berlin Teddy and Redentor prizes with “Hard Paint.”
Rogério Nunes’ “Coração das Trevas,” an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness” about the dystopian reality of Rio’s violent outskirts, is the only animation competing for the feature fiction prize.
Ilda Santiago, courtesy of Rio Film Festival
“Cyclone,” the story on a young factory worker and playwright who receives a scholarship to study theater in Paris in 1919, is helmed by Flávia Castro, who has another feature in Premiere Brasil’s Hors-Concours section.
Felipe Sholl, the winner of Berlin’s Teddy award for short film “Tá” and the Redentor kuddo for “Fala Comigo,” is competing with “Ruas da Glória,” about a man who moves to Rio and becomes obsessed with a male escort.
“Love Kills,” a romantic thriller set in São Paulo’s Crackland, is an entry from Luiza Shelling Tubaldini, the first trans woman director competing in Premiere Brasil.
Anne Pinheiro Guimarães is the helmer of “Pequenas Criaturas,” the story of Helena, a married woman who moves with her family to Brazil’s capital of Brasília in 1986.
Cíntia Domit Bittar’s horror film “Virtuosas” depicts an exclusive VIP retreat for virtuous Christian women that quickly descends into chaos.
Susanna Lira, the winner of four Redentor prizes for docs in Rio Fest, is competing with “#SalveRosa,” featuring a 13-year-old internet celebrity.
Premiere Brasil Out-of-Competition, comprised of 13 films, has a particularly strong selection this year. The most awaited screening is of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.” The historical political suspense won in Cannes 2025 best actor for Wagner Moura and best director for Mendonça, the Art House Cinema Award and the Fipresci Prize for best film in main Cannes competition. It has also recently been selected as Brazil’s entry for the best international feature Oscar. Vitrine will release “The Secret Agent” in Brazil on Nov. 6.
Doc “Para Vigo Me Voy,” by Karen Harley and Lírio Ferreira, premiered in Cannes earlier in the year and comprises the life and work of Cacá Diegues, one of Brazil’s most important filmmakers, who died in February.
“It was an immense joy to make a documentary about Cacá. It gave me the opportunity to delve into his work and his reflections,” Harley tells Variety. “Cacá is not only a filmmaker of the greatest importance, but also a sharp chronicler and thinker of Brazilian society and democracy. With his immense generosity, he opened doors for an entire generation of filmmakers.”
Flávia Lacerda’s “Perrengue Fashion” is a comedy with Ingrid Guimarães (“Head Over Heels”) and Filipe Bragança, which is expected to become a local blockbuster.
“Sexa,” about the dilemmas of an aging woman, is the first film helmed by acclaimed actress Gléria Pires (“If I Were You”), who also stars in the drama.
Flavia Castro’s “As Vitrines” weighs in as the story of two teenagers stuck in the Argentine embassy in Chile with numerous political refugees after the 1973 coup d’état of dictator Pinochet.
“Por Nossa Causa,” of acknowledged helmer Sergio Rezende, centers on the relationship between two female political activities.
“O Homem de Ouro,” direted by Mauro Lima, portrays controversial police officer Mariel Mariscot, notorious for his participation in death squads in the 1960s and 1970s in Rio.
“Diving into this story was like performing a carbon-14 test on the fossil of some species that had evolved. In this case, through the short life of a man who embodies the promiscuous relationship between public security and criminality,” Lima tells Variety. “The very notion of property defence in a country forged in the violence of slavery. The process was similar to sifting through a box of evidence from an old crime, like those cold-case shows we see on cable TV.”
A drama, “(Des)controle,” helmed by Rosane Svartman and Carol Minêm, turns on a female writer who has to deal with family and professional challenges and a drinking problem.
Miguel Falabella’s and Hsu Chien’s “Querido Mundo” is based on a Falabella play. In the plot, two neighbors, a man and a woman, both facing a crisis in their marriages, got stuck in a building on New Year’s Eve.
Régis Faria’s “Perto do Sol é Mais Claro” depicts an 85-year-old man who attempts to move on with his life, after the death of his wife.
“Anos 90: a Explosão do Pagode” is a doc by Emílio Domingos and Rafael Boucinha about the 1990s golden age of pagode, a music subgenre of samba.
Fellipe Barbosa’s “90 Decibéis” centers on a woman who is losing her hearing and has to adapt to find a new purpose for her life.
Vet helmer André Sturm’s “A Conspiração Condor,” a fiction film, follows the journey of a journalist who investigates the suspicious deaths in 1976 of two former Brazilian presidents, Juscelino Kubitscheck and João Goulart.
“I wanted to tell a little-known story about the death of two former presidents of Brazil within a span of 100 days, during the dictatorship here, in the form of a political thriller in the style of 1970s films,” Sturm tells Variety.
PREMIERE BRASIL FICTION
“A Vida de Cada Um” – Murilo Salles
“Night Act” – Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher
“Coração das Trevas” – Rogério Nunes
“Cyclone” – Flavia Castro
“Dolores” – Maria Clara Escobar and Marcelo Gomes
“Love Kills” – Luiza Shelling Tubaldini
“Pequenas Criaturas” – Anne Pinheiro Guimarães
“Ruas da Glória” – Felipe Sholl
“Quase Deserto” – José Eduardo Belmonte
“Virtuosas” – Cíntia Domit Bittar
“#SalveRosa” – Susanna Lira
PREMIERE BRASIL DOCUMENTARIES
“Amuleto” – Igor Barradas and Heraldo HB
“Apolo” – Tainá Müller and Isis Broken
“Cheiro de Diesel” – Natasha Neri and Gizele Martins
“Dona Onete – Meu Coração Neste Pedacinho Aqui” – Mini Kerti
“Honestino” – Aurélio Michiles
“Massa Funkeira” – Ana Rieper
PREMIERE BRASIL NOVOS RUMOS
“Cartas Para…” – Vânia Lima
“Criadas” – Carol Rodrigues
“Espelho Cigano” – João Borges
“Eu Não Te Ouço” – Caco Ciocler
“Herança de Narcisa” – Clarissa Appelt and Daniel Dias
“Nada a Fazer” – Leandra Leal
“Timidez” – Susan Kalik and Thiago Gomes Rosa
“Uma em Mil” – Jonatas Rubert and Tiago Rubert
“Uma Baleia Pode Ser Dilacerada Como uma Escola de Samba” – Marina Meliande and Felipe M. Bragança (hors concours)
PREMIERE BRASIL, OUT-OF-COMPETITION
“A Conspiração Condor” – André Sturm
“Anos 90: a Explosão do Pagode” – Emílio Domingos e Rafael Boucinha
“As Vitrines” – Flavia Castro
“(Des)controle” – Rosane Svartman and Carol Minêm
“The Secret Agent” – Kleber Mendonça Filho
“O Homem de Ouro” – Mauro Lima
“Para Vigo Me Voy” – Karen Harley and Lírio Ferreira
“Perrengue Fashion” – Flávia Lacerda
“Perto do Sol é Mais Claro” – Régis Faria
“Por Nossa Causa” – Sergio Rezende
“Querido Mundo” – Miguel Falabella and Hsu Chien
“Sexa” – Gloria Pires
“90 Decibéis” – Fellipe Barbosa
PREMIERE BRASIL RETRATOS
“Ary” – André Weller
“As Dores do mundo: Hyldon” – Emílio Domingos and Felipe David Rodrigues
“Fernanda Abreu – Da Lata, 30 anos, o documentário” – Paulo Severo
“Fôlego – Até Depois do Fim” – Candé Salles
“Gláucio Gill – Um Teatro em Construção” – Lea Van Steen and Rafael Raposo
“Meu Tempo É Agora” – Sandra Werneck
“Milton Gonçalves, Além do Espetáculo” – Luiz Antonio Pilar
“Não Sei Viver Sem Palavras” – André Brandão
“Ninguém Pode Provar Nada: a Inacreditável História de Ezequiel Neves” – Rodrigo Pinto
“O Brasil Que Não Houve – As Aventuras do Barão de Itararé no Reino de Getúlio Vargas” – Renato Terra and Arnaldo Branco
“Rei da Noite” – Cassu, Lucas Weglinski and Pedro Dumans
“Vou Tirar Você Desse Lugar” – Dandara Ferreira
PREMIERE BRASIL O ESTADO DAS COISAS
“Cadernos Negros” – Joel Zito Araújo
“Com Causa” – Belisário Franca
“Do Outro Lado do Pavilhão” – Emilia Silveira
“Invencíveis” – Vitor Leite and Clarice Saliby
“Itacoatiaras” – Sergio Andrade and Patricia Gouvea
“Minha Terra Estrangeira” – João Moreira Salles, Louise Botkay and Coletivo Lakapoy
“Na Onda da Maré” – Lucia Murat
“O Pai e o Pajé” – Iawarete Kaiabi, Felipe Tomazelli and Luís Villaça
“Pau d’Arco” – Ana Aranha
“Reconhecidos” Fernanda Amim and Micael Hocherman
“Rua do Pescador nº.6” – Bárbara Paz
PREMIERE BRASIL MIDNIGHT MOVIES
“A Própria Carne” – Ian SBF
“Copacabana, 4 de Maio” – Allan Ribeiro
“Futuro Futuro” – Davi Pretto
“Nosferatu” – Cristiano Burlan
“Quarto do Pânico” – Gabriela Amaral Almeida
PREMIERE BRASIL CLÁSSICOS
“A Mulher de Todos” – Rogério Sganzerla
“Gêmeas” – Andrucha Waddington
“Hermeto Campeão” – Thomas Farkas
“Nossa Escola de Samba” – Manuel Horácio Gimenez
PREMIERE BRASIL GERAÇÃO
“Aventuras de Makunáima – Histórias Encantadas da Amazônia” – Chico Faganello
“Criaturas – Uma Aventura entre Dois Mundos” – Juarez Precioso
“Papaya” – Priscilla Kellen
“Quatro Meninas” – Karen Suzane
“Tainá e os Guardiões da Amazônia – Em Busca da Flecha Azul” – Alê Camargo and Jordan Nugem
“Trago seu amor” – Claudia Castro
PREMIERE BRASIL SERIES
“Ângela Diniz: Assassinada e Condenada” – Andrucha Waddington
“Ayô” – Yasmin Thayná
“De Menor” – Caru Alves de Souza
“Tremembé” – Vera Egito
