The news magazine, Veja Rio, publishes an annual list – Comer & Beber (Eat & Drink) of the best restaurants and bars in Rio de Janeiro. For 2025-26 the selection includes a top three of:
Asian: Elena, Mee, Mr. Lam; Contemporary: Lasai, Oteque, Oseille; Feijoada: Academia da Cachaça, Rubaiyat, Aconchego Carioca; French: Casa 201, Chez Claude Francese Brasserie; Gastrobar: Balcão 201, Nosso, Eleninha; Hamburger: Bal. Clan, Encarnado, T.T. Burger; Italian: Gero,Grado, Nido;Japanese: San Omakase, Haru, Mitsuba; Meat: Rufino,Malta Beef Club, Giuseppe Grill; Pizza: Ferro e Farinha, Capricciosa,Ellal; Portuguese: Rancho Portugues, Gajos d’Ouro, EA Gastronomia; Seafood: Satyricon, Polvo Marisqueira, Ocyá; Vegetarian: Teva,.org Bistro, Brota; Wine Bar: Libo, Belisco, Virtuoso; Boteco: Bar da Frente, Capiau; Botica; Kiosk: La na Rosi, Sel d’Ipanema,Ginga.
The 27th edition of Festival do Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s International Film Festival, announced its winners Sunday (12 October) for the competitive sections of the festival, including Première Brasil, New Trends and the Felix Awards for films that celebrate LGBTQIAPN+- culture and topics.
“Pequenas Criaturas” (Little Creatures) directed by Anne Pinheiro Guimarães, and produced by Bananeira Filmes’ was chosen by the jury to be the best fiction film in Première Brasil, while Tainá Müller and Ísis Broken’s “Apolo”, produced by Capuris, won best documentary. “Pequenas Criaturas” also picked up best best art direction while “Apolo” won best soundtrack.
Set in Brasilia in 1986, “Little Creatures” is the story of a woman who has barely settled into Brazil’s futuristic capital with her family when her husband departs on a business trip. Abandoned in an unfamiliar city, she questions her choices while feeling frustrated and adrift, as her teenage son rebels and discovers first love, and her seven-year-old finds magic in unlikely friendships and invisible possibilities.
The documentary “Apolo” follows Isis and Lourenzo, who after conceiving a child naturally, during the COVID-19 pandemic, embarked on a journey across Brazil in search of respectful and specialised prenatal care. At the same time, they continued their daily struggle, for their family’s rights in a country that has one of the highest cases of trans people being killed.
Overall the prizes were well spread out among the rest of the competing films, but in the main competition, Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher’s “Ato Noturno” (Night Stage), that premiered in Berlin’s Panorma, picked up trophies for best actor, for Gabriel Faryas’ performance, for best cinematography, and for the directors’ screenplay. It was also chosen to be the best Brazilian feature by the FELIX Jury that celebrates LGBTQIAPN+- culture and topics.
“Ruas da Glória” (Street of Gloria) picked up both the supporting actor and actress prizes for performances by Alejandro Claveaux and Diva Mennier, while Klara Castanho won for best actress in Susanna Lira’s “#SalveRosa” (#SaveRose) that also won for best costume design. Renata Russo becoming the first winner in this new festival category. The film also picked up the prestigious audience award for best feature in Première Brasil.
Festival audiences chose Natasha Neri and Gizele Martin’s “Cheiro de Diesel” (Small of Diesel) as best documentary. A documentary about the collective traumas caused by the militarisation of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas during the Armed Forces’ occupation for major sporting events, it also picked up the Special Jury Prize.
“Uma em Mil” (One in a Thousand) directed by Jonatas Rubert and Tiago Ruber was chosen best film by the New Trends jury while festival audiences picked “Herança de Narcisa” (Narcisa’s Will) as their favourite film in New Trends.
Première Brasil is considered one of the world’s most important showcases and shop windows for Brazilian cinema, and in 2025 over 120 Brazilian productions were selected – features and shorts – allowing the festival to showcase a wide panorama of young and established Brazilian filmmakers.
Festival do Rio received 1320 entries for Première Brasil in 2025 – 320 features and over one thousand shorts – from filmmakers from across Brazil, as well as co-productions with other countries. There were 54 world premieres amongst the films selected for Première Brasil, screening in official competition, New Directions, Portraits, The State of Things, Midnight Movies and Hors Concours, among other festival sections.
The Felix jury, for films that celebrate LGBTQIAPN+- culture and topics, picked “Ato Noturno” (Night Stage), directed by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher, as best Brazilian feature; Australia’s “Lesbian Space Princess”, directed by Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobb, as best international feature; and Alain Ribeiro’s “Copacabana, 4 de Maio” as best documentary, a film that shows how Rio de Janeiro prepared and how the fans were affected, waiting anxiously for the May 4th concert by Madonna on Copacabana Beach.
The awards for 2025 were announced and presented during a gala ceremony Sunday at the historic Cine Odeon – Centro Cultural Luiz Severiano Ribeiro, in Cinelândia in the heart of Rio de Janeiro.
Première Brasil – Redentor Trophy – 2025
Premiere Brasil Jury: President: Eric Lagesse (distributor, sales agent and producer), Carolina Kotscho (author, director and producer), Claudia Kopke (costume designer), Elena Manrique (executive producer), Javier Garcia Puerto (film and video curator), Luciana Bezerra (director, screenwriter and actress),Paula Astorga (producer and audiovisual project consultant)
Best Fiction Feature: “PEQUENAS CRIATURAS”, directed by Anne Pinheiro Guimarães
Production Company: BANANEIRA FILMES
Best Documentary: “APOLO”, directed by Tainá Müller and Ísis Broken
Production Company: CAPURI
Best Short: (ex aequo)
“SEBASTIANA”, directed by Pedro de Alencar
Production Company: TERRA BRUTA / CÉU E SANGUE FILMES
“O FAZ-TUDO”, directed by Fábio Leal
Production Company: CASA LÍQUIDA
Special Jury Prize: “CHEIRO DE DIESEL”, directed by Natasha Neri and Gizele Martins
Production Company: AMANA CINE / BARACOA FILMES
Best Director – Feature Fiction: ROGÉRIO NUNES, for “Coração das Trevas”
Best Director – Documentary: MINI KERTI, for “Dona Onete – Meu Coração Neste Pedacinho Aqui”
Best Actress:KLARA CASTANHO, for “#SalveRosa”
Best Actor: GABRIEL FARYAS, for “Ato Noturno”
Best Supporting Actress: DIVA MENNER, for “Ruas da Glória”
Best Supporting Actor: ALEJANDRO CLAVEAUX, for “Ruas da Glória”
Best Screenplay: FILIPE MATZEMBACHER and MARCIO REOLON, for “Ato Noturno”
Best Editing: ANDRÉ FINOTTI, for “Honestino”
Best Cinematography: LUCIANA BASEGGIO, for “Ato Noturno”
Best Art Direction: CLAUDIA ANDRADE, for “Pequenas Criaturas”
Best Costume Design: RENATA RUSSO, for “#SalveRosa”
Best Sound: ARIEL HENRIQUE and TALES MANFRINATO, for “Love Kills”
Best Soundtrack: PLÍNIO PROFETA, for “Apolo”
Première Brasil – New Trends (Novos Rumos) 2025
New Trends Jury: President: Beth Formaggini(filmmaker), Davi Pretto (director and screenwriter), Lucas H. Rossi (director and producer), Rafael Sampaio (producer and curator), Thalita Carauta (actress)
Best Film: “UMA EM MIL”, directed by Jonatas Rubert and Tiago Rubert
Production Company: ATALA
Best Director: JOÃO BORGES, for “Espelho Cigano”
Special Jury Prize: ÂNGELA LEAL and LEANDRA LEAL, for “Nada a Fazer”
Best Actor: MÁRCIO VITO, for “Eu Não Te Ouço”
Best Actress: ANA FLAVIA CAVALCANTE and MAWUSI TULANI, for “Criadas”
Special Mention (Best Actress): DOCY MOREIRA, for “Espelho Cigano”
Best Short: “PONTO CEGO”, directed by Luciana Vieira and Marcel Beltrán
Production Company: CINEMA INFLAMÁVEL
Jury – Honorary Mention- Shorts: “OS ARCOS DOURADOS DE OLINDA”, directed by Douglas Henrique
Felix Awards 2025
FelixJury: President: President: Franck Finance-Madureira (journalist and film critic), Carolina Durão (director), Chica Andrade (director, producer and actress), Hedu Carvalho (creator of Cine Drag)
The Felix winners were selected from international and Brazilian productions screening in this year’s Festival do Rio that celebrate LGBTQIAPN+- culture and topics:
Best Brazilian Feature: “ATO NOTURNO”, directed by Marcio Reolon and Filipe Matzembacher
Production Company: AVANTE FILMES
Best International Feature: “A SAPATONA GALÁCTICA” (Lesbian Space Princess), directed by Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobb
Production Company: WE MADE A THING
Best Documentary: “COPACABANA, 4 DE MAIO”, directed by Allan Ribeiro
Production Company: ACALANTE FILMES
Special Jury Prize: “ME AME COM TERNURA” (Love Me Tender), directed by Anna Cazenave Cambet
Production Company: NOVOPROD CINÉM
Audience Awards – Public Vote 2025
Best Fiction Feature: #SalveRosa”, directed by Susanna Lira
Production Company: ELO STUDIOS / PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Best Documentary: “Cheiro de Diesel”, directed by Natasha Neri and Gizele Martins.
Production Company: AMANA CINE / BARACOA FILMES
Best Film – New Trends: “Herança de Narcisa”, directed by Clarissa Appelt and Daniel Dias
Production Company: CAMISA PRETA FILMES
NOTE: Full information about all the prize winners (and photos), and films screening during Festival do Rio, can be found on the festival’s web site (www.festivaldorio.com.br) and photos of the prize winners and all festival and RioMarket activities can be found and down loaded at http://www.flickr.com/photos/festivaldorio.
A new Rio Olympic Museum, a new cultural facility dedicated to the memory of the 2016 Games, has opened in Rio de Janeiro.
The museum occupies the upper level of the Velodrome in the Olympic Park in Barra da Tijuca, and brings together a thousand pieces distributed in thematic areas with immersive and interactive experiences. The velodrome track has been maintained.
For the first two months, the museum will operate on a soft opening basis, from Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with free entry by booking on the museuolimpico.rio website. Access will initially be limited to 120 visitors per day, divided into four groups. After this period, visitors will be charged.
The museum is expected to be maintained by the Rock World group, organiser of Rock In Rio, which is building a theme park and entertainment centre on the neighbouring land, scheduled to open in 2028.
The museum joins The Olympic Museums Network, a global network endorsed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which now has 37 locations around the world.
Despite a lacklustre campaign, Brazil has kept its record of being the only nation to qualify for every World Cup finals. The finals in 2026 will be Brazil’s 23rd appearance, of which they have won five.
From South America Brazil joined Argentina, the current World Champions, in qualifying, and Ecuador have also now booked their spot in the finals. Six teams from South America will qualify, with the seventh-placed finisher going into the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.
With two rounds to go in September, the favourites to advance with Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador are currently Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia, with Venezuela and Bolivia fighting it out for that play-off spot.
Brazil women’s team has already qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027 as it is Brazil that will host the 10th edition of the tournament from 24 June to 25 July 2027. Brazil is the first South American country to host the tournament.
55 years ago the 1970 FIFA World Cup took place in Mexico from 31 May to 21 June.
75 teams tried to qualify for Mexico, but only 16 could take part in four groups of four in the qualifying stage of the finals, with the top two from each group going into the quarterfinals.
It was the first World Cup held outside of South America and Europe; the first to be televised in colour; substitutes were allowed for the first time; and red and yellow cards were introduced, although no player was sent off during the tournament. Brazil was drawn in Group 3 with holders England, Romania and Czechoslovakia.
Wednesday, 3 June 1970, saw four group games at the FIFA World Cup in Mexico including the tournament debut of Brazil against Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia scored first, but Brazil went on to win the match 4-1 thanks to goals by Rivelino, Pele and two from Jairzinho.
On Sunday, June 7 1970, one of the greatest games in World Cup history was played in Guadalajara between Brazil and England. Brazil won the game one-nil, Jairzinho scoring. Either side could have won, and it would not have been unfair if it had ended 4-4. Gordon Banks made his famous save from Pele, and made a number of other key saves to keep Brazil out, while Bobby Moore played possibly his greatest game in defence. At the other end Felix proved he had more lives than many cats, while it was Brazil’s captain, Carlos Alberto, who had to do a lot of the tidying up. The result meant both team were favourites to progress from Group 3.
The third and final round of the group stage of the World Cup took place on Wednesday, 10 June. Brazil defeated Romania three-two to guarantee its place in the quarter finals and top its group. Pele scored twice for Brazil and, of course, Jairzinho netted one.
On Sunday, 14 June 1970, all four quarter final matches of the 1970 FIFA World Cup were played. Producing some classic games, West Germany, the only unbeaten side in the tournament along with Brazil, beat the holders, England, three-two after extra time in a rematch of the 1966 final. The hosts, Mexico, were beaten 4-1 by an Italian side coming into form, while it took Uruguay to the 117th minute and extra time to score the one goal that sent the Soviet Union home. The fourth quarter final saw Brazil beat fellow South Americans, Peru, four-two thanks to goals by Rivellino, Jairzinho, and two from Tostao.
The two semi-finals were played on Wednesday, 17 June, with Brazil facing Uruguay in and all South American semi-final while the other was an all European affair with Italy taking on West Germany. All the semi-finalists were past winners of the World Cup, Brazil, Italy and Uruguay having won it twice, and West Germany once. The only other country to win the World Cup was England. Brazil overcame Uruguay three-one, Uruguay scored first before goals from Clodoaldo, Jairzinho and Rivelino saw Brazil safely through to its fourth final.
The second semi-final is considered a World Cup classic with Italy finally overcoming West Germany four-three after extra time. Full time had ended one-one with Germany scoring in the final minute of normal time, before five goals were scored in extra time. Germany would beat Uruguay one-nil in the third place play off.
The final on Sunday 21 June in front of 107,412 fans at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City saw two-time champions Brazil and Italy playing, the winner knowing they would get to keep the Jules Rimet trophy as three time winners.
Brazil scored first through Pele, before Italy equalised to end the first half at one-one, but the second half was all Brazil in an exhilarating exhibition of attacking football. Gerson put Brazil ahead in the 21st minute, with Jairzinho scoring in the 26th minute to be the only player to score in every round and match of a World Cup. The icing on the cake was the final goal scored by the Brazilian captain, Carlos Alberto, after nearly every Brazilian player had touched the ball as they took it from deep in their half to score. The goal is generally considered the best scored in World Cup history and for many that Brazilian team is considered the greatest team ever.
Brazil has gone on to win the World Cup twice more in 1994 and 2002, and was the losing finalist in 1998. It has also hosted the World Cup final in1950 and more recently in 2014.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), that represents some 350 airlines comprising over 80% of global air traffic, has confirmed that its 82nd AGM will be held in Rio de Janeiro from 6 to 8 June 2026 hosted by LATAM Airlines Group.
The last time the IATA AGM was in South America was in 1999, also in Rio, and before that for Brazil was 1947 when it was held in Petropolis.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, said: “It will be a great opportunity to take stock of changes over two decades of development that have seen strengthening air connectivity successfully support major world events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics. By meeting in the largest aviation market in South America, the AGM will highlight the great potential for aviation to be an even more powerful strategic force driving social and economic prosperity.”
Appropriately Rio reflects Brazil’s rich history in aviation, dating back to the pioneering efforts of Alberto Santos-Dumont, one of the fathers of aviation, whose historic flight in 1906 marked a significant milestone in the development of powered flight.
Rio de Janeiro has once again shown that it is more than capable of dealing with a little “Mayhem” as Copacabana Beach played host to Lady Gaga tour of the same name and an estimated crowd of 2.1 million of her fan on Saturday 3 May). That is roughly the crowd size of 25-shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Some impressive logistics to handle the shoew and crowd size, but the city has had a bit of practice over the years including Madonna (2024), The Rolling Stones (2006) and even the late Pope Francis who held a mass on the beach in 2013 during his first overseas trip. The crowd then was estimated to be close to 4 million. And, of course, New Year on Copacabana Beach brings in a crowd of 3 to 4 million each year.
In 2026 the main parades of the Grupo Especial in Rio de Janeiro’s carnival are scheduled to take place on the nights of Sunday, 15 February; Monday, 16 February; and Tuesday, 17 February. After its introduction and success in 2025, the 12 schools will again parade over three nights. The order for the parades was decided on 12 April 2025 and will be:
The Insider’s Guide to Rio, since 2014 in the form of www.riotheguide.com, continues to inform readers about travelling to-and-visiting Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, with a lot of people using it to learn about Rio’s carnival.
Despite zero support from any tourist board in Brazil, the independent site continues to grow with a record 37,500 views in 2024. The site, as of 10 March, has been viewed 11,000 times so far in 2025, with over 4,000 of these visitors using it to get their information about Rio’s recent carnival.
Thank you for being one of the growing number of readers of Rio: The Guide.
Acadêmicos de Niterói, which won Série Ouro, is promoted to the Grupo Especial in 2026 after bringing an off-season festa junina to Rio.
With the storyline ‘Vixe Maria’, the school took us to Maracanaú in Ceará, for a story about one of the biggest São João festivals in the world.
Acadêmicos de Niterói scored to 269.5, keeping it just ahead of Estácio de Sá with 269.3 and Porto da Pedra with 269.1. It will be the first time the school has paraded in the elite Grupo Especial of twelve, becoming the 32nd different school to do so. Like Viradouro it is located in Niterói.
Relegated from Grupo Especial to Série Ouro is Unidos de Padre Miguel.
Rio the Guide 