Festival do Rio Goes to Cannes: New Brazilian Directors, the Horror of Homelessness, Remarkable True Stories (EXCLUSIVE)

All five films at Festival do Rio Goes to Cannes are in post-production, with excerpts from every production set to be shown at the Marché du Film showcase.

One of the buzz titles at Ventana Sur’s Proyecta projects showcase in 2024, Jô Serfaty’s fiction debut “Beyond the Edge” is set in a coastal village of Atafona, north of Rio, now being swallowed up by the sea.

Its inhabitants are not seen as simple victims, however. “Among the ruins and all the changes happening in the present, the film points to a world that is still being rebuilt right there on the edge of the abyss,” Serfaty told Variety.

From De Paiva and Florim, whose feature debut “Avenida Beira –Mar” scored the 2024 Festival do Rio top Brazilian film award, “Days of Fire” showcases the the strength of the Brazilian cinema, here in “genre films that explore fantastic realism and horror,” say its producers.

“Talented” marks the latest from Thais Fujinaga, a major writer on Netflix “3%” follow-up “Omniscient” whose “The Joy of Things” was also one of the major attractions at 2020’s Ventana Sur. A mother-daughter relationship drama, “Talented” is “about the bond between mother and daughter, about the expectations and projections people have of each other,” Fujinaga told Variety.

The lineup also takes in the extraordinary true story of Carolina Maria de Jesus, a favela waste picker who burst onto the international literary scene in the 1950s and ‘60s as a best-selling writer, and Fabio Mendonça’s “The Character” which, like “Edge,” keys into social suffering – here, immigration – from the point of view of resistance.

2026’s Festival do Rio Goes to Cannes “shows the vigorous time in Brazilian cinema and also the fact that we are boundto be diverse!! Each project has a special profile, be that drama, genre, humor, coming of age and more,” said Ilda Santiago, executive director of the Festival do Rio, known abroad as the Rio de Janeiro Int’l Film Festival.

“We are more adventurous. And that comes with confidence in how Brazilian cinema is perceived globally. It is a strong follow up to the previous years,” Santiago told Variety.

Brazilian cinema is “still a long way from reconquering our audiences locally, and it is not so easy to talk about living up to the last few years when films were incredibly good and to the taste of different audiences all over the world. But this selection is just a small taste of what’s in store,” she added.

Organized by the Cannes Festival’s Marché du Film, the Goes to Cannes series of seven showcases of works in progress from festivals and markets all over the world, is offering two new awards in 2026: the OCS+ Award, with €15,000 ($17.6 million) for the French distributor of a Goes to Cannes project, and the AH Media Production Award of €10,000 ($11,700) in cash. These prizes join the well-known Sideral Cinema Award of a €10,000 minimum guarantee for one of the projects.

A closer look at the Festival do Rio Goes to Cannes titles:

“Beyond the Edge,” (“Borda do Mundo,” Jô Serfaty, Brazil, France, Arissas, Misia Films, Claroscuro Cine)

‘Beyond the Edge’

Serfaty’s follow up to 2019 multi-prized doc debut “Um filme de verão,” with “Edge” taking prizes from Globo Filmes and Vitrine at Brazil’s BRLab and two at Málaga’s 2023 MAFF. In it, a former summer resident returns to a coastal hamlet, now sinking under the sea, sparks memories and desires in a fisherwoman and her young grand-daughter. Now in post, a co-production with France’s Misia Films, with “The Secret Agent” distributor Vitrine Filmes releasing in Brazil.

“Carolina Maria de Jesus – The Film,” (Jeferson De, Move Maria, Globo Filmes, Raccord, Buda Filmes, Mact Productions)

Co-produced by Antoine Tonnerre’s Mact in France with Elo Studios (“The Boy and the World”) handling distribution in Brazil. Maria Gal (“Perfect Love”) stars as the real-life Carolina Maria de Jesus, a favela waste picker whose diary became a bestseller in Brazil and was published in the U. S. and beyond. Directed by Black Brazilian cinema activist Jeferson De, behind Berlin-selected “Broder” and Netflix title “M8,” and penned by Maíra Oliveira, who wrote Disney+ “Aruna’s Magic.”

“The Character” (“O Personagem,” Fábio Mendonça, Amaia Produçoes, Uno Filmes, Globo Filmes)

‘The Character’

Clarens, a Haitian immigrant in São Paulo, battles to build a better future in Brazil while butting heads with a society that sees him only as either a criminal or a victim. “The Character” explores the “intimate, human experience of immigration” revealing “the strength and resilience of immigrant communities,” says Mendonça, co-director of “Pedro e Bianca,” an International Emmy Kids winner.

“Days of Fire,” (“Diário do Fogo,” Maju de Paiva, Bernardo Florim, Viralata, Telecine, Canal Brasil, Elo Studios)

‘Days of Fire’

From De Paiva and Florim, who also won the director plaudit at Mexico’s 2024 Guadalajara Festival with their first feature, “Days of Fire” turns on Graça who dreams of fire. Occupied by homeless families, her abandoned building indeed burns down. Mother and daughter wander a city, the living and the dead following their trail. “Brazil is incredibly rich in culture and creativity, and the film highlights our capacity for experimentation and high production values,” say its producers.

“Talented,” (“Talismã,” Thais Fujinaga, Vulcana Cinema, Aurora Content, Vitrine Filmes)

‘Talented’

Tereza dedicates herself to raising Pina, seeking to preserve her own individuality. But for Pina, her mother is still the center of the universe. What interests me most in this relationship is the moment when the child realizes that the most important person in her life can be completely fallible,” said writer-director Fujinaga. Set to be released in Brazil by Vitrine Filmes.