4 weeks ago
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Rio de Janeiro-based Brisa Filmes, producer of Anita Rocha’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title “Medusa” (2021), is partnering with Lira Filmes and Encantados Produções on the Amazon-set thriller “Quietness” (“Sossego”).
Produced by actress-producer Fernanda Thurann and directed by French-Brazilian Monique Sobral de Boutteville, “Quietness” is at the finalized script stage and slated for a 2025–26 shoot.
The story centers on Ana, a 35-year-old actress facing creative burnout who returns to her childhood home deep in the Amazon after her mother’s death. There, Ana confronts the past and embarks on a journey of self-discovery where reality and fantasy blur.
Thurann plays the lead and calls the project “a rare fusion of auteur cinema, Amazonian mythology, gender issues and family memory.”
She adds: “It engages with global themes — such as belonging, identity and ecology — through an immersive aesthetic language, with strong potential for festivals and artistic circuits.”
The film has partial backing from Brazil’s Federal Audiovisual Incentive Law and has raised nearly one-quarter of its budget. To secure additional support, the producers are applying to national and international labs and public funds.
International Co-Producers
Thurann will attend Cannes’ Marché du Film to seek partners, particularly international co-producers, distributors and sales agents.
Director Sobral de Boutteville, who hails from Pará and lives on Marajó Island, has written, directed and acted in theater in both Brazil and France.
“Monique was born and raised in the region; she belongs to this place, and the story is told from within. ‘Quietness’ is deeply personal, rooted in lived experience, memory and cultural intimacy. At the same time, she also builds a bridge to France, bringing a transatlantic sensibility that enriches the film’s narrative layers,” Thurann says.
“This dual belonging allows her to speak to both local and international audiences, offering a perspective that is grounded and poetic,” she adds.
While a French co-producer is a natural fit, the team is open to other international partnerships.
Poetic and Politically Resonant
Brisa Filmes, selected for the 2025 France-Brazil Co-Production Meetings at #CoproductionDay, is positioning “Quietness” as a poetic and politically resonant story with global appeal.
Lira Filmes brings production expertise and market reach. Encantados Produções, based in Belém, contributes deep cultural insight into the Amazon, strengthening the film’s authenticity and ecological grounding.
Lira’s previous work includes “Levante” (“Power Alley”), a Brazil-France co-production that won the FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes Critics’ Week and Best Fiction Direction at Festival do Rio.
Future Projects: ‘Match’
Brisa is also seeking partners for its slate, including the horror feature “Match.” Written by Julie Ketlem and developed in-house, “Match” is envisioned in English and explores motherhood and female fragility through gore, horror and erotic thriller tropes.
“Match” uses sensory and visceral imagery — blood, breath, bones — to blur the line between fear and desire. “At Brisa, we understand the commercial and festival potential of the horror genre. It’s a space that allows for both bold artistic expression and a strong market return,” says Thurann.
“We believe ‘Match’ delivers on both fronts: it’s a project with high creative ambition and real commercial viability.”
Brisa is currently seeking sales agents, financiers, and co-producers for “Match.”
Also in Development
Other projects in development include “Coffee with Clay,” about a boy who copes with his grandmother’s terminal illness by escaping into a virtual world, and “One Night and a Half,” a genre piece set in 1989 Rio, where a teen becomes entangled in a police probe and a gypsy’s quest for revenge.
“Both projects offer strong narratives with international appeal, and we are looking for collaborators who share our vision for compelling cinema.”
English (US) ·