Brazil heads list of countries considered at risk of cultural blackout – Swedish film fund

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In an announcement on Saturday, July 10, Brazilian film “Rule 34” by Julia Murat was chosen by the Swedish Gothenburg Audiovisual Fund committee to be awarded an amount of Є35,000 (approximately R$215,000).

The fund launched in May by the Gothenburg International Film Festival is a Swedish government initiative to defend democracy worldwide and was directed to 4 territories where the Nordic government believes culture is at risk due to political issues.

Brazil is on the list alongside countries with incipient cinematography and weak democratic traditions, such as Sudan and Ukraine, as well as Kurdish cinema, made by the ethnic minority living scattered across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.

The fund received over 1,000 applications, 75% of which from Brazil. There were 600 projects seeking development funding and another 145 looking for post-production resources, i.e., films already shot but awaiting completion of sound and image.

“Applications were 4 times higher than we expected. The mere fact that we received this many projects from Brazil is astonishing and says a lot about the current situation in the country,” said Camilla Larsson, the fund’s administrator.

Tatiana Leite, the film’s producer, received the news in disbelief. “We managed to finance the film before this government came into power, but now it would be impossible for us to finish the project, since all resources not only for audiovisual but for culture in general are suspended in Brazil.”

In an interview, Jonas Holmberg, artistic director of the Gothenburg Film Festival, said that “the political crisis and the paralysis of the film industry in Brazil came at a time when Brazilian cinema was perhaps more interesting than ever.”

“Rule 34,” shot last year and halted by lack of resources for completion, is Julia Murat’s third feature film. The filmmaker has had her previous films screened at the world’s biggest festivals such as Venice, Toronto and Berlin.

“I am happy that the Gothenburg festival can help some of these very talented filmmakers in the country and fill, even if only minimally, this funding gap while a better future does not come,” Holmberg added.

The fund expects to announce a few more selections for films in completion and the projects that will be supported for development in September.

Number of projects received per country

Brazil
Post-production: 145
Development: 600

Sudan
Post-production: 2
Development: 75

Ukraine
Post-production: 20
Development: 70

Kurdish Cinema
Post-production: 25
Development: 65

Source: Folha