The Festival do Rio is an international film festival in Rio de Janeiro. The festival was the result of a 1999 merger of two previous film festivals, the Rio Cine Festival and the Mostra Banco Nacional de Cinema.[1] Founded in 1984 and 1988 respectively, the two festivals were held within a period of two months between each other.[1][2] To avoid overloading the city with two film festivals within a short period of time, the two events were eventually merged.[2]
Since its founding, the event has featured not only Brazilian productions but also films from all over the world—hence its official designation, the “International Film Festival.” The festival’s trophy and ultimate symbol, as well as a symbol of the city itself, is the Redentor Trophy (Troféu Redentor). [3]
Today, Festival do Rio is the largest film event in Latin America and one of the main meeting points for professionals in the Brazilian audiovisual industry. It is known as an important showcase for films scheduled for release in Brazil and, throughout its editions, has welcomed major international cinema figures such as Isabelle Huppert, Samuel L. Jackson, Forest Whitaker, Jeanne Moreau, Agnès Varda, Ricardo Darín, Willem Dafoe, and many others. [4]
History
Festival do Rio was founded in 1999 as the result of the merger of two earlier film festivals: the Rio Cine Festival, founded in 1984, and the Mostra Banco Nacional de Cinema, founded in 1988. In its first edition, held between September 16 and 30, the festival featured a program of more than 400 titles, including premieres by Brazilian filmmakers such as Carlos Reichenbach, Eduardo Coutinho, and Walter Salles, alongside a wide range of international works. [5]
In the 2007 edition, the festival achieved the historic milestone of screening more than 300 previously unreleased films, both Brazilian and international, from 60 countries, including award-winning titles from major festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, and Venice, as well as from the Academy Awards. [6]
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival’s 21st edition was postponed to the following year. The 2021 edition was broadcast on the Telecine network between July 17 and 30, 2021, via streaming and on the Telecine Cult TV channel. Subsequently, free festival screenings were announced on digital platforms and through an in-person extension at Estação Net Botafogo. The full selection of the 2021 edition was presented from December 9 to 19, 2021, also in a hybrid format, both in-person and virtual. In December of the same year, it was announced that the festival’s business market, RioMarket, would be held virtually for the first time. [7]
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