Pitching Paradiso Looks to Brazil’s North-East and Exciting Next Gen Filmmakers (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comJohn Hopewell Chief International Correspondent For its first Pitching Paradiso, to be held at Ventana Sur on Nov. 30, Brazil’s Projeto Paradiso is looking to Brazil’s North-East and a new more diverse generation of filmmakers which is bringing a sense of urgency and excitement to Brazilian cinema.
Projects highlighted at Pitching Paradiso include one from Rio de Janeiro – Leonardo Martinelli’s much anticipated feature expansion of “Neon Phantom.” Otherwise, titles are from Brazil’s North-East: Bahia (“Time, Knifed”); Ceará (“The Ocean’s Eyes,” “Yellowcake”) and Pernambuco (“Burning Land”, “Paths of Loneliness”).
Two factors are at work. There’s a determination of all levels of government, from president Lula downwards, as well as other institutions, such as Projeto Paradiso, to support titles from fast-emerging regional talent. “Brazil is indeed a country where the “diversity/inclusion” agenda is multi-faceted: It is not only a question of gender, race and ethnic origin, but also, in a continental country, of region of origin,” says Projeto Paradiso head Joséphine Bourgois, noting that Brazil’s Fundo Setorial do Audiovisual, its federal film fund, has a regional production quota.
Equally, however, “regions like the North-East have gained more and more relevance,” she argues. Name directors from the region, like Karim Ainouz, Kleber Mendonça and Sergio Machado, have gained international recognition.
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