The 27th edition of the Rio International Film Festival, the largest fest in Latin America, will be held from October 2-12th and will feature a record number of productions in the premier Brazil.
Premiere Brasil will consist of a total of 124 productions, including features and short film, along with four TV series premiers, the highest numbers in the history of the Rio Film Festival, or other fest editions in Brazil.
The record highs reflect the strength of the local production sector, according to Ilda Santiago, Executive Director of Rio Fest. In 2024, a total of 312 local features were released in Brazil theatrically. This year, 260 features were released at local theatres from January to September 10th.
For this edition, Fest selected 124 productions out of over 300 submissions of feature films and roughly 1,000 submissions of short films.
“Producers and distributors are aiming to premiere the film in Rio, because they know they’ll gain a lot of visibility here. “Premier Brazil is the biggest showcase of local films in the country.”
“Sexa” courtesy of the Rio Film Festival
The Premier Brasil is divided into competitive sections. The competition for the Redent Awards includes fiction, documentation and subsections of Ramos of Novos (sidebar for new directors). Apart from competition, there are no competition, the Class Sicos Restaurant for Heritage Cinema, Retrotos (profiling people and facilities for film profiling), Jelacheon (children and teen film), àmeianoite (horror film), special Cerise Brasileilus (series), ostado das coisas with for sugen coisas for se coisat environment.
11 features compete for the Redent Fiction Award. The list depicts a veteran director such as Murilo Salles (centered on the relationship between a brutal police captain and three children), Marce Logomez (co-director of “Dolores” Maria Clara Escobar, an elderly woman dreaming of becoming a casino owner, Argentina who witnessed the murder in Detroit).
“Night Act” was directed by Marcio Loron and Philipe Matsmbacher, the recipients of Berlin Teddy and awarded awards for “Hard Paint.”
“Coracheon Das Trevas” about the violent suburban reality of Rio in Joseph Conrad’s novel “Heart of Darkness” is the only animation in which Roguerio Nunes’ “Coracheon Das Trevas” competes for a fiction award.
Courtesy of Ilda Santiago by the Rio Film Festival
The Cyclone, the story of a young factory worker and playwright who receives a scholarship to study theatre in Paris in 1919, is directed by Flavia Castro, who has another feature in the section of Premier Brazil’s Horse Residences.
Felipe Shoal, the winner of the Rededar Kud Awards for Berlin short films “Ta” and “Falakomigo”, competes with “Ruas Dagloria” about a man who moves to Rio and becomes obsessed with male escorts.
Love Kills, a romantic thriller in Clackland, Sao Paulo, is the entry for Louis Sascheling to Valdini, the first transwoman director to compete in the Premier Brazil.
Anne Pinheiro Guimarães is the helm of Pequenas criaturas, the story of Helena, a married woman who travels with her family to the capital of Brazilian capital in 1986.
Cíntia Domit Bittar’s horror film “Virtuosas” depicts an exclusive VIP retreat for noble Christian women who quickly fall into chaos.
Susanna Lira, the winner of four Redentor Awards for Docs at Rio Fest, competes with “#Salverosa,” featuring a 13-year-old internet celebrity.
Premiere Brasil’s competition, consisting of 13 films, has a particularly strong selection this year. The most anticipated screening is Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.” Historic political suspense was Wagner Moura’s Best Cannes Actor 2025, and was awarded Mendonsa’s Best Director, Arthouse Cinema Award and Best Film Award at the Main Cannes Competition. It was also recently selected as a Brazilian entry for Best International Feature Oscar. Vitrine will release a “secret agent” in Brazil on November 6th.
Doc “Para Vigo Me Voy” by Karen Harley and Lírio Ferreira premiered in Cannes earlier this year and constitutes the life and work of Cacá Diegues, one of Brazil’s most important filmmakers who passed away in February.
“It was a great joy to make a documentary about Kaka, and it gave me the opportunity to delve into his work and his reflection,” Harley tells Variety. “Not only is Kaka the most important filmmaker, he is also a keen recorder and thinker of Brazilian society and democracy. With his enormous generosity, he opened the door for all generations of filmmakers.”
Flávia Lacerda’s “Perrengue Fashion” is a comedy between Ingrid Guimarães (“Head Over Heels”) and Filipe Bragança, and is expected to be a local big hit.
“Sexa,” about the dilemma of an aged woman, is the first film led by acclaimed actress Grelia Pierce (“If I Was You”), who also appeared in the drama.
Flavia Castro’s “Vitolin” gets heavy as the story of two teenagers is stuck at the Argentine embassy along with many political refugees after the 1973 coup of dictator Pinochet.
Recognised Helmer Sergio Rezende’s “Pol Nossa Cause” focuses on the relationship between the political activities of the two women.
“O Homem de Ouso” depicts Mariel Mariscott, a police officer known for his participation in the death forces in Rio in the 1960s and 1970s, read by Maurolima.
“Diving into this story was like running a carbon 14 test on some fossil species that has evolved, in this case, through the short life of a man who embodies the messy relationship between public safety and criminality,” Lima tells Variety. “The concept of a country’s property defense built on slavery violence. This process was similar to sifting through boxes of evidence from old crimes, like the cold shows seen on cable television.”
The drama “(Des)Contle” adopted by Rosane Svartman and Carol Minêm turns on female writers who have to deal with family and occupational challenges and drinking issues.
“Querido Mundo” by Miguel Falabella and Hussou Chien is based on the play of Falabella. In the plot, two neighbors, a man and a woman, both faced a marriage crisis and were stuck in a building on a great year day.
Legis Faria’s “Pelt de Sol Myce Claro” depicts an 85-year-old man who tries to continue his life after his wife’s death.
“Anos 90: AExplosão do Pagode” is a documentary by Emilio Domingo and Rafael Boucinia on the musical subgenre of Samba, a pagodo from the golden age of the 1990s.
Fer Barbosa’s “90 desibe” focuses on women who are deaf and must adapt to find a new purpose in her life.
The fictional film, Veterinarian Andre Sturm’s “AConspiração Condor,” follows the journey of a journalist in 1976, investigating the suspicious deaths of two former Brazilian presidents, Juscelino Kubitscheck and João Goulart.
“I wanted to talk lesser-known about the deaths of two former Brazilian presidents over the course of 100 days, in the form of a political thriller in the style of the 1970s film,” Sturm tells Variety.
Premier Brazilian Fiction
“A Vida de Cada Um” – Murilo Salles
“Night Act” – Marciorolon and Philippe Matsmbacher
“Corachan das Trevas” – Roguelio Nunes
“Cyclone” – Flavia Castro
“Dolores” – Maria Clara Escobar and Marcelo Gomez
“Love Kill” – Louisa’s shelling Tubaldini
“Pequenas criaturas” – Anne Pinheiro Guimarães
“Luas da Gloria” – Felipe Scholl
“Quase Deserto” – Jose Eduardo Belmonte
“Virtuosas” – Cíntia Domit Bittar
“#Salverosa” – Susanna Lila
Premier Brazild Documentary
“Amuleto” – Igor Barradas and Heraldo HB
“Apollo” – Teinamüller and Isis are broken
“Cheiro de Diesel” – Natasha Neri and Gizele Martins
“Donna Onete – MeuCoração Neste PedacinhoAqui” – Mini Kelti
“Honestino” – Aurélio Michiles
“Massa Funkeira” – Ana Rieper
Premiere Brasil Novos Rumos
“Cartaspara…” – Vânia Lima
“Criadas” – Carol Rodriguez
“Espelho Cigano” – Joan Borges
“eunãoteowço” – Caco Ciocler
“Heranza de Narcissa” – Clarissa Apelto and Daniel Diaz
“nada a fazer” – Leandra Leal
“Timides” – Susan Carrick and Thiago Gomez Rosa
“Uma em mil” – Jonatas Rubert and Tiago Rubert
“Uma Baleia Pode Ser Dilacerada Como Uma Uma Escola de Samba” – Marina Meliande and Felipe M. Bragança (Hors Concours)
Premier Brazil, out of competition
“Conspirator’s Condor” – Andre Sturm
“Anos 90: Explosive Pagodo” – Emilio Domingo E Raphael Businha
“As Vitrine” – Flavia Castro
“(des)Contleol” – Rosane Svartman and Carol Minêm
“The Secret Agent” – Kleber Mendonça Filho
“O Homem de Ouso” – Maurolima
“Paravigomy Boy” – Karen Harley and Lilio Ferreira
“Perrengue Fashion” – Flávia Lacerda
“Pelt de Sol Myce Claro” – Regis Faria
“Por Nossa Causa” – Sergio Rezende
“Querido Mundo” – Miguel Falabella and Sue Chien
“Sexa” – Gloriapier
“90Decibéis” – Fellipe Barbosa
Premier Brazilian Retro Toss
“Arie” – Andre Weller
“As the Door Mundo: Hildon” – Emilio Domingos and Felipe David Rodriguez
“Fernanda Abreu – Da Lata, 30 Anos, ODocumentário” – Paulo Severo
“Fôlego – Até Depoisdo fim” – Candé Salles
“Gláucio Gill – Um Teartro Em Construção” – Lea Van Steen and Rafael Raposo
“Meu Tempoé Agora” – Sandra Wellneck
“Milton Goncalves, Alem de Espetacro” – Louis Antonio Pilar
“Não Sei Viver Sem Palavras” – André Brandão
“Ninguém Pode Provarnada: aacreditatávelhistóriadee zequel neves” – Rodrigo Pinto
“O Brasil Quenn Houve – Aventuras Do Barrão de Taraaré No Reino De Getúlio Vargas” – Renato Terra and Arnaldo Branco
“Ray Da Nowite” – Cass, Lucas Weg Grinsky, Pedro Dumant
“Vou TirarVocêDesse Lugar” – Dandara Ferreira
Premier Brasil O Estado Das Coisas
“Cadernos Negros” – Joel ZitoAraújo
“Com Causa” – Belisário Franca
“Do Outro lado doPavilhão” – Emilia Silveilla
“Invencíveis” – Vitor Leite and Clarice Saliby
“Itacoatiaras” – Sergio Andrade and Patricia Gouvea
“Minha Terra Estrangeira” – Joanne Morela Sales, Louise Boccai, Kolecivo Lakapoi
“Na Onda DaMaré” – Lucia Murat
“O Pai EoPajé” – Iawarete Kaiabi, Felipe Tomazelli, Luís Villaça
“Pau d’Arco” – Anna Alanha
“Reconhecidos” Fernanda Amim and Micael Hocherman
“Rua do pescadornº.6” – Barbara Pass
Premier Brazil midnight movie
“Própria Carne” – Ian SBF
“Copacabana, 4 de Maio” – Alain Ribeiro
“Futuro Futuro” – Davi Pretto
“Nosferatu” – Cristiano Barran
“Quarto dopânico” – Gabriella Amaral Almeida
Premier Brasil Clássicos
“Mulher de Todos” – Rogério Sganzerla
“Gemias” – Andrchawadington
“Hermeto Campeão” – Thomas Farcus
“Nossa Escola de Samba” – Manuel Horacio Guimenez
Premier Brazilian Gelacho
“Aventuras de Macnaima – Historia Encantada da Amazonia” – Chico Faganello
“Criaturas – Uma Aventura Entre Dois Mundos” – Juarez Precioso
“Papaya” – Priscilla Kellen
“Quatro Meninas” – Karen Suzanne
“Taináe Os Guardiāesda Amazônia – em busca da flecha azul” – Are Camargo and Jordan Nugem
“Trago Seu Amor” – Claudia Castro
Premier Brazil Series
“ângela Diniz: Assassinada e Condenada” – Andrchawadington
“Ayo” – Yasmin Seina
“de menor” – Cal Alves de Suza
“Tremenbe” – Vera Egito
