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RioFilme, the film-TV agency of Rio de Janeiro City, will launch a call for proposals amounting to R$15 million ($3 million) for up to four international co-production projects involving Rio-based companies.
Leonardo
Edde, president of RioFilme, told Variety that projects of fiction and animated feature films are eligible to apply and that he will provide details of the new funding line during his Gramado Film Market panel at the Gramado Fest 2026.
In order to apply, a project must abide by Brazilian regulations. If the co-production partner of the Rio-based company is from one of the 13 countries that has coproduction agreements with Brazil – South Africa, Germany, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Spain, France, India, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the UK and Venezuela – the co-production conditions must be within the agreements’ rules.
If not, the Rio partner must share of at least 40 of the film’s rights and two-thirds of the artists and technicians in the production should be Brazilians, as determined in the general co-production rules of Brazil’s National Cinema Agency (Ancine).
Edde said the new funding line is just part of an ambitious plan to further consolidate Rio as a major world film and TV production hub. Over the past years, Rio has streamlined its film commission and created incentives that made it one of the most filmed cities in the world, surpassing Paris and Mexico City in terms of days shot in the city. In the first half of 2026, Rio hosted 40 international productions, up from 28 in the same period last year, according to Rio Filme.
The next step to Rio is to foster relations with China, Russia and India, partners of Brazil in the Brics alliance, but currently with residual cooperation in film and TV, said Edde.
“The Brics project has still not taken off in a manner commensurate with its potential. I believe the integration between the countries will be achieved through the cultural industry, especially the audiovisual industry,” he said. “There is a Brics film festival from time to time, and there are some other initiatives, but they are unfortunately not yet permanent, recurring or a priority for the countries.”
The main target is China. The countries are celebrating this year the Brazil–China Cultural Year 2026 and the Brazilian Congress is about to approve a co-production agreement between the two nations.
Brazil’s Ministry of Culture sent in June a large delegation of government officials, industry representatives and talents to the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival, Edde included, and organized screenings of Brazilian films in eight Chinese cities.
During the trip, Edde advanced on plans for a visit of members of the China Film Producers’ Association (CFPA) to Rio de Janeiro over Nov. 16-19. He has also initiated the process to enroll RioFilm in the UHD World Association (UWA), a technical and industrial organization with nearly 500 company members, such as giants Huawei, iQIYI, Baidu, Alibaba, and Xiaomi.
According to Edde, RioFilme is negotiating a partnership with the Hengdian Group, owner of the Hengdian World Studios, located in Zhejiang Province, the world’s largest film and television production center.
The complex includes numerous large-scale studios, outdoor sets and replicas of Chinese cities, palaces and historical landmarks of China, as well as crews with equipment, costumes, props, accommodation, technicians and supporting actors. It is also a major tourist destination.
The idea is to have Hengdian as the model for Rio’s Creative District, which includes the main sports complex of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, the city’s Cinema Pole that will have 16 studios by the end of this year and the production centers of free-to-air TV networks Globo and Record.
As for Russia, RioFilme and the Moscow Film Cluster (Moskino) signed a partnership agreement during Moscow International Film Week 2025. Moskino sent in May 2026 a large delegation to Rio2C, the big creative industry meeting in Rio de Janeiro. In addition, the two countries are negotiating a coproduction agreement.
India is also on RioFilme’s radar. Daniel Celli, coordinator of the Rio Film Commission, attended over Aug. 6-7 the first edition of the Brics Waves Bazaar, held in Mumbai, which gathered producers, studio and streaming executives, investors, government agencies and media-technology companies from Brics countries.
“India and Brazil both have a great film tradition,” Edde said. “We have been discussing with Indian officials how some form of financing could be created to dub and license Brazilian and Indian content. The idea is to make them available on open-access streaming platforms.”
