1 week ago
2
“Our goal is to keep supporting São Paulo’s — and by extension, Brazil’s — presence on the global audiovisual stage. We want our films, stories, and professionals to be seen, recognized, and valued worldwide,” says Spcine CEO Lyara Oliveira.
One milestone move in international outreach looks set to be made at the Cannes’ Marché du Film, where Spcine and South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) will launch a joint call for submissions for a pilot international co-development program.
In Cannes, Spcine and Brazil’s Riofilme and Projeto Paradiso will reveal a development scheme in partnership with Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund to launch to launch HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support.
Put together, the two initiatives take Spcine’s international outreach to a trailblazing new level.
HBF+Brazil targets the early development of projects by first and second time filmmakers from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the rest of Brazil.
In the pilot year of the planned three-year initiative, HBF+Brazil will support up to nine fiction film projects in early development, directed by a Brazilian filmmaker and with a Brazilian production company attached, giving grants of €10,000 ($11,300) to each title.
As the management partner, HBF will launch the call for projects in the second half of 2025 on IFFR.com. HBF+Brazil partners , however, will sign a co-operation agreement at the Cannes Film Festival.
The scheme targets “unique, innovative and culturally significant storytelling” from Brazil via financial support and the enhanced international visibility of Brazilian filmmaking talent, while fostering international collaboration, the partners said May 12.
Many of Brazil’s leading filmmakers – including Kleber Mendonça Filho, Marcelo Gomes, Gabriel Mascaro and Julia de Simone – have benefitted from HBF support at key moments in their careers, noted Vanja Kalujdercic, IFFR festival director and Tamara Tatishvili, head of the Hubert Bals Fund.
“Together, we’re acting on a shared commitment to new forms of cooperation – and to contributing meaningfully to Brazil’s independent film sector,” they added.
“The initiative expands the reach of our talents and connects São Paulo to global networks of creation and development. It is a step aligned with our strategy for internationalization and strengthening the local industry,” said Oliveira.
Spcine add South Africa’s NFVF aim to start co-developing two projects, rising to a total four titles, marrying writers and producers from the two countries, says Yolanda Ncokotwana, NFVF head of department, industry development.
“The call offers financial and institutional support for the development and production of audiovisual works,” says Ary Scarpin, Spcine’s newly-appointed director of economic development and strategic partnerships “This partnership strengthens the commitment to building a more collaborative and diverse audiovisual industry and promotes direct dialogue among countries of the Global South,” he adds.
One topic which looks to interest both Brazil and South Africa is the African diaspora to Brazil during the Atlantic slave trade, says Ncokotwana. The partners are looking, however, at “anything that connects us, such as a glimpse of how the future could look, how the Global South reimagines itself,” she notes.
“We hope that putting together creators will be the spark that lights the fire in terms of just more collaboration,” she says. In the longterm, she adds, she hopes that the projects will be seen in both countries and that in general more Brazilian content will be watched in South Africa and vice-versa.
First projects may be announced as early as the Durban FilmMart in late July.
English (US) ·