The 25th edition of Festival do Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s International Film Festival, announced its winners on Sunday, 15 October for the competitive sections of the festival, including Première Brasil, Première Brasil – New Trends, and the Felix Awards for films that celebrate LGBTQIAPN+- culture and topics.

Vera Egito’s “A Batalha da Rua Maria Antônia”, a black and white drama about a pivotal night in 1968 as students on the left and right fought each other, was chosen by the jury to be the best fiction film in Première Brasil, while “Othelo, o Grande”, by Lucas H. Rossi dos Santos, about the great Brazilian actor and comedian, Grande Otelo, was chosen top documentary. There were three top acting awards and the art direction award for Carolina Markowicz’s “Pedágio”, Markowicz having won the festival’s screenplay award in 2022.

Première Brasil is considered one of the world’s main showcases and shop windows for Brazilian cinema and in 2023 over 90 Brazilian productions were selected – features and shorts – showcasing a wide panorama of young and established filmmakers.

Festival do Rio had received 1,108 entries for Première Brasil in 2023 – 790 shorts and 318 features – from Brazilian filmmakers, as well as from co-production partners with Brazil. There were over 40 world premieres amongst the 54 feature films and 38 shorts screening in Première Brasil during the festival. Works of fiction and documentaries. In 2022, 450 shorts and 200 features were submitted for Première Brasil.

The awards for 2023 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, and hosted by actors Carla Cristina Cardozo and Bokassa Kabengele.

The festival had run from 5 to 15 October, and also included RioMarket. It had started with a screening of Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal’s “They Shot the Piano Player” and closed with gala screenings on 14 October of one international and one Brazilian feature, respectively Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” and the world premiere of Marcus Baldini’s “O Sequestro do Voo 375”.

Première Brasil – Redentor Trophy – 2023

Jury: Laís Bodanzky (President – Director, screenwriter and film producer), Gaia Furrer (Artistic director of Venice’s Giornate degli Autor), Isabél Zuaa (Collaborator on dance, film, theatre and television projects) João Vieira Jr. (Producer) and Renata Pinheiro (Director, screenwriter and art director)

Best Fiction Feature:   “A Batalha da Rua Maria Antônia”, by Vera Egito (Producer: Paranoid Filmes)

Best Documentary: “Othelo, o Grande”, by Lucas H. Rossi dos Santos (Producer: Franco Filmes)

Best Short: Cabana, by Adriana de Faria (Producer: Adriana de Faria and Tayana Pinheiro)

Special Jury Prize: “O Dia que te Conheci”, by André Novais de Oliveira (Producer: Filmes de Plástico)

Jury – Honorary Mention: “Black Rio! Black Power!” by Emílio Domingos (Producer: Espiral)

Best Director – Feature Fiction: Lillah Halla, for “Levante” (Producer: Arissas)

Best Director – Documentary: Daniel Gonçalves, for “Assexybilidade” (Producer: TV Zero)

Best Actress: Maeve Jinkings, for “Pedágio” (Producer: Biônica Filmes and O Som e a Fúria) and Grace Passô, for “O Dia que te conheci” (Producer: Filmes de Plástico)

Best Actor: Kauã Alvarenga, for “Pedágio” (Producer: Biônica Filmes and O Som e a Fúria)

Best Supporting Actress: Aline Marta Maia, for “Pedágio” (Producer: Biônica Filmes and O Som e a Fúria)

Best Supporting Actor: Carlos Francisco, for “Estranho Caminho” (Producer: Tardo Filmes)

Best Screenwriting: Guto Parente, for “Estranho Caminho” (Producer: Tardo Filmes)

Best Editing: Eva Randolph, for “Levante” (Producer: Arissas)

Best Cinematography: Evgenia Alexandrova, for “Sem Coração” (Producer: Cinemascópio Filmes)

Best Art Direction: Vicente Saldanha, for “Pedágio” (Producer: Biônica Filmes and O Som e a Fúria)

Première Brasil – New Trends (Novos Rumos) 2023

New Trends Jury: Johnny Massaro (President – Actor, director and producer), Beatriz Seigner (Screenwriter and director), Jéssica Ellen (Actress) and Pedro Bronz (Director and editor)

Best Film: “Saudade fez morada aqui dentro”, by Haroldo Borges (Producer: Plano 3 Filmes)

Best Director: Ricardo Alves Jr. for “Tudo o que você podia ser” (Producer: Entrefimes)

Special Jury Prize: “A Alma das Coisas”, by Douglas Soares (Producer: Acalante Filmes)

Jury – Honorary Mention: “Iracemas”, by Tuca Siqueira (Producer: República Pureza Olinda)

Jury – Honorary Mention: “Bizarros Peixes das Fossas Abissais”, by Marão

Best Short: “Dependências”, by Luisa Arraes (Producer: Cosmo Cine and Paris Produções)

Felix Awards 2023

Felix Jury: Sandro Fiorin (President – Producer and distributor), Andrea Capella (Director and visual artist) , Pedro Henrique França (Director, screenwriter, actor and journalist) and Wescla Vasconcelos (Screenwriter, director and actress)

The winners, selected from 15 international and 9 Brazilian features and six Brazilian shorts screening in this year’s Festival do Rio that celebrate LGBTQIAPN+- culture and topics, are:

Best Brazilian Feature: “Sem Coração”, by Tião and Nara Normande

Best International Feature: “20.000 Espécies de Abejas” (20,000 Species of Bees), by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (Spain)

Best Documentary: “Orlando, Ma Biografia Politique” (Orlando, My Political Biography), by Paul B. Preciado (France)

Jury – Honorary Mention – Documentary:  “Assexybilidade”, by Daniel Gonçalves

Special Jury Prize: “Tudo o que você podia ser”, by Ricardo Alves Jr.

Suzy Capó Trophy – Personality of the Year: Nanda Costa and Lan Lanh