Pitching Paradiso Looks to Brazil’s North-East and Exciting Next Gen Filmmakers (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

John 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.