Glaz Entertainment, one of Brazil’s leading companies, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the goal of returning to its theatrical film roots.
Glaz CEO and producer Mayra Lucas said the company is currently in talks with Sony Pictures Brazil to develop new projects, adding that the company last collaborated with the studio on the 2010 film “Brother.” The film is said to reflect the reality of a Brazilian favela and follows three childhood friends who have many hardships.
“During the pandemic and beyond, we have focused on producing for streaming platforms, but we want to return to theaters,” Lucas said. He is encouraged by recent victories in the Brazilian film industry, including last year’s Academy Award for International Feature Film for Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” and most recently, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for Wagner Moura in “The Secret Agent.”
Glaz’s films are in the top 10 box office grosses in Brazil and consistently rank among the most-watched titles on multiple streaming platforms.
Past features include “I’m Rich!” (“To Licca-chan!”); “Welcome to Kizeramobim” (“Bem vinda a Kizeramobim”). “Somebody Borrowed Me” (“Esposa de Aluguel”) and “Burning Betrayal” (“O lado bom de ser traida”) ranked in the top 10 films in 68 countries and became one of the most-watched non-English films on Netflix.
The company has also developed a strong partnership with local streaming platform giant Globoplay to produce several shows. Many new series are in preparation. Among them are:
“Arrastados” (loosely translated as “Drugged”) is Globoplay’s original documentary series directed by Mariana Jaspe. The book, based on the best-selling book by journalist Daniela Albex, chronicles one of Brazil’s worst environmental and humanitarian disasters, the collapse of the Brumadinho dam in Minas Girais state, which killed around 300 people.
Another equally fascinating project with Globoplay is The Evandro Case, a true crime series directed by Ali Muritiba about the investigation into the murder of a young boy and based on a podcast by Top Rank’s Ivan Mizandzuki.
The third crime series being produced in collaboration with Globoplay is “Meninos de Altamira” (tentative title “The Boys from Altamira” in English), also based on Mizanzuki’s podcast. Based on true events, it explores a series of horrific crimes that took place in Altamira, northern Brazil, between 1989 and 1993, when several young boys were kidnapped, mutilated, and murdered.
Boys of Altamira, provided by Glaz Entertainment
Two of the projects Glaz is presenting at Content Americas have strong international appeal.
“The Straw Man” is a Scandinavian noir-thriller-like series set in Brazil’s Pantanal, a huge freshwater wetland fed by the Paraguay River. The film follows a serial killer who targets pregnant women and leaves them with straw dolls in place of their babies. The detective is deeply shaken by what he has witnessed and begins to lose his grip on reality.
Under the Olive Sun is a series set in southern Brazil that shines a light on Brazil’s lesser-known Muslim communities. This cross-cultural love story centers on Lana, a Lebanese refugee who is displaced by a devastating airstrike and resettled in rural Brazil, where she is adopted by a Muslim family. She reunites with Gabriel, a Brazilian naval officer who was traumatized by the same airstrike. Their bond resurfaces grief, guilt, and love, raising questions about whether love can heal the past.
