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RioFilme opens registration for the call for proposals with the largest investment in history
Published on 09/07/2025 - 11:30 | Updated
Rio de Janeiro - Fabio Motta / Rio City Hall Starting this Wednesday (July 9th), RioFilme will begin accepting applications for proposals competing for the largest investment in the city-owned company's history since its founding in 7. R$1992 million will be invested in the Development, Production, and Distribution of films and series produced by Rio de Janeiro-based production companies. The initiative is part of RioFilme's strategic plan, one of whose goals is to attract more third-party investments, leveraging the funds already made available by Rio de Janeiro City Hall. The resources to be invested come from the regional agreement signed between RioFilme and the Steering Committee of the Audiovisual Sector Fund in December of last year, and ratified through a technical cooperation agreement aligned with the National Cinema Agency (Ancine).
"The opening of applications for these calls represents more than a financial contribution to the sector: it reaffirms the Rio de Janeiro City Hall's commitment to the sustainable development of the audiovisual industry. We act responsibly, with planning and clear goals to boost all links in the production chain—from training to exhibition, from diversity to innovation. The public resources invested here are instruments of economic, social, and symbolic transformation. We will remain steadfast in our mission to consolidate Rio de Janeiro as a strategic international hub for film and audiovisual, generating employment, income, self-esteem, and a sense of belonging for our population," said Leonardo Edde, CEO of RioFilme.
In return for the Federal Government's partnership, the City Hall has already invested R$2025 million in the sector through RioFilme in 31,1, completing the contracting of 96 projects, encompassing production, distribution, cash rebates, short films, web series, video games, film clubs, and exhibitions and festivals. The calls for proposals and action lines for this phase of the 2025 Rio de Janeiro Audiovisual Development Program were developed in compliance with the FSA regulations, which require all projects to have the potential to generate financial returns for the FSA. The funds will be distributed as follows:
– R$8 million for Feature Film Distribution – divided among 11 projects of up to R$1 million (with a minimum of five projects of R$1 million and six projects of R$500 thousand)
– R$59 million for Complementary or Production of Fiction and Animation Feature Films to be distributed: R$39 million for films with a budget above R$5 million (at least 12 projects that will receive up to R$4 million) and R$20 million for films with a budget of up to R$5 million (at least ten projects that will receive up to R$2.5 million)
– R$16 million for Complementation or Production of Fiction and Animation Series distributed among six projects with up to R$4 million
– R$12 million for Supplementation or Production of Documentaries for Cinema, TV and Streaming, distributed among 12 projects that will receive up to R$1.250 million
– R$5 million for Project Development for Cinema, TV and Streaming distributed as follows: R$1.5 million for feature-length fiction films (R$250 for six projects); R$1.5 million for feature-length fiction series (R$250 for five projects); R$1 million for feature-length films, television films and animated series (R$250 for four projects) and R$1.250 million for feature-length documentary films, television series and television films (R$250 for five projects).
RioFilme is already in talks with the Municipal Department of Culture to include the company's traditional non-returnable grants in the Aldir Blanc National Policy (PNAB), such as: Support for Exhibitions and Festivals, Film Clubs, Short Films/Web Series, and Electronic Games. RioFilme expects to announce the second part of its Support Program, covering these segments, in the second half of the year.
To read the notices for the 2025 Carioca Audiovisual Development Program in full, simply access the RioFilme website. Registration will be open until 18 pm on August 27th and can be done at here.
Active listening – Public participation in the Public Consultation
The 2025 Rio de Janeiro Audiovisual Development Program was announced on May 29th. Subsequently, on June 2nd, the public consultation process began, running until June 22nd. During this period, RioFilme received 180 contributions: 74 from industry representatives, 49 from individuals, and 57 from companies. After a detailed analysis of all the suggestions received during the public consultation, RioFilme partially or fully accepted 40% of the contributions. The following stand out among the contributions incorporated into the program:
– Increased weight of artistic criteria in the scoring of projects registered in the Feature Film with a Budget of up to R$5 million line of the call for proposals for Complementary or Production of Fiction/Animation Feature Films and in the Call for Complementary or Production of Documentaries for Cinema, TV/Streaming
– Acceptance of registration of proposals with a minimum total budget of less than R$5 million, and review of the proportion between own investment and that requested from the FSA, in order to include a greater variety of projects of different sizes registered in the Fiction/Animation Series Production Call
– Increase in the investment ceiling for proposals in the call for proposals for Supplementation or Production of Documentaries for Cinema, TV/Streaming
– Increase in the number of proposals for Documentary Project Development in the Call for Project Development for Cinema, TV or Streaming
– Acceptance of Proposals for own distribution in the Action Line: contribution of up to R$500 from the Feature Film Distribution Notice
– Review of the rules for investment in P&A by the proponent in the Action Line: contribution of up to R$500 from the Feature Film Distribution Notice, in order to include access to the notice by smaller distribution companies
Public investment policies in the sector, developed through active consultation with Rio de Janeiro's society and audiovisual industry, are already yielding excellent results. In the first quarter of this year, Rio de Janeiro-based film production accounted for 80% of the Brazilian cinema market share, driven by the hits "Ainda Estou Aqui" and "Auto da Compadecida 2," the latter produced with funding from RioFilme. This success resulted in a 7% increase in Brazilian cinema attendance compared to the same period in 2024.
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