RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — Rio de Janeiro recorded 10,930 days of filming in 2025, an increase of 24.6% year-on-year, Riofilm President Director Leonardo Edde announced March 12 at Forum Audiovisual & Turismo, an event aimed at discussing how film and television production can boost tourism and development in Brazil.
Citing information from RioFilme’s Rio Film Commission, Ede added that in 2025, Rio had more than 30 sets operating simultaneously throughout the year, taking into account the production of films, series, TV shows and commercials.
According to Ede, Brazilian productions accounted for 95.5% of the number of shooting days in Rio in 2025, while foreign productions accounted for 4.5%. 28 international films were filmed in Rio last year.
“The Brazilian film market is very strong, which is great. But one of our main goals this year is to attract more foreign films to shoot here in Rio,” Ede said.
He added that Rio is now one of the world’s most popular cities for filming. Rio will surpass Paris in number of filming days in 2023, and close the gap with Madrid, which recorded 11,001 filming days in 2025.
The first Audiovisual Tourism Forum was held at the Rio Museum of Art (MAR) and was part of the larger tourism event “TurisMall 2026”. Brazil’s former Minister of Culture Sergio Sá Leighton and MPA’s Senior Vice President for Latin America Steve Solotto served as curators of the event.
In his keynote address at the forum, Solot stressed that films are more effective than advertising in promoting tourist destinations because they reach more people, have a longer-lasting effect, and create an emotional connection with viewers.
“Audiovisual feeds tourism, and tourism feeds audiovisual. Together, these two sectors generate significant revenue and employment. Brazilian cities have good examples of using film and television production to promote their status as tourist destinations, but there is still much room for improvement,” Leighton said.
sergio sa leyton
