THE VIEW FROM... INDUSTRY
STAR ATTRACTION Fernanda Torres earned a nomination for best actress in I’m Still Here (pictured) at the 97th Academy Awards
Her early collaboration with Walter Salles on Foreign Land (1995) reflects that displacement. “It tells the story of Brazilian youths in exile in Portugal due to a lack of economic prospects. It mirrored my own experience. Things only changed with the Real Plan, which ended inflation. Then cinema returned with strength.” The following years saw a renewed national industry, producing films such as Central Station (1998) and City of God . However, Torres argues this resurgence has never been stable. “In the recent four years of far-right government the crisis returned with a sharp production decline. It began to recover after Brazil overcame an attempted coup. I believe Brazilian cinema will continue this cycle – dying and being reborn at the mercy of its political and economic circumstances.” Karim Aïnouz, whose films include Love for Sale (2006), Firebrand (2023), The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão (2019) and Motel Destino (2024), argues there is legal footing in place for Brazil’s filmmakers, albeit with hiccups. “There has always been public policy for Brazilian cinema,” he says, “but there was a major interruption in 1994 when the film agency was discontinued, which created a hiatus until around 2000, with
a few exceptions. Then, in 2002, with the election of Lula, many of those policies returned.” According to Aïnouz, the film industry experienced a prolonged period of expansion over the next two decades before getting disrupted again in 2018. “Many projects were halted, and during that period streamers largely took over the market,” he says. Following the 2022 election, that shift has since begun to reverse. “It’s exciting to see how quickly things are recovering,” he adds. “Cinema, in a country where television has such dominance, is a vital cultural and economic space. It requires Carol Duarte, who played the titular role in The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão as well as starring in acclaimed films such as La Chimera (2023) and Malu (2024) explains that, despite recent progress and visibility, producing films in Brazil is still no easy feat. “There were important public policy advances under previous governments, but not enough for a country of Brazil’s scale. They suffered significant interruptions in recent years.” Public policies take time to deliver results and recover after disruptions. sustained public support.” BUILDING MOMENTUM
military dictatorship,” she says. “Later, funding mechanisms were created based on taxing foreign films shown in Brazil, through ANCINE. “Now, there is major debate about taxing streaming companies and big tech. With over 200 million inhabitants, Brazil is a heavy consumer of internet and streaming, but it does not have any taxation policy or requirement to reinvest in the national industry. We came close to passing a law, but there was no consensus. Balancing market openness with the development of local production requires public policy – there is no way around it.” The end of Embrafilme in the early nineties shows how abruptly support can vanish. Its closure by presidential decree coincided with a period of economic collapse, marked by runaway inflation and the confiscation of personal savings. For much of the industry, cinema ceased to be a viable profession. “Many filmmakers became journalists or teachers because cinema simply stopped existing,” Torres recalls. “Brazil was experiencing a crisis that lasted over a decade. Many Brazilians went into exile; I was one of them. I worked in Mexico and Portugal and turned to theatre.”
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