Brazilian Programs

From a pool of 845 short films, the curation process requires the unhurried pace of one film finding another so that, together, they sharpen one another in sessions defined by creative ingenuity—screenings that respect genre conventions yet cast off the leash of rigid regulations.

Weaving a panorama of national short-film production and honoring the legacy of the Festival’s founder, this year marks the inaugural Zita Carvalhosa Award for films debuting at the 37th Kinoforum. Among the 61 short films comprising the 12 programs of the Brazilian Showcase, nearly a third are premieres competing for the R$ 20,000 (twenty thousand reais) prize.

Meanwhile, the Student’s Showcase—one of the most vibrant strands of the Brazilian Programs— presents another 20 films originating fromaudiovisual courses and workshops. These compete for the Breakthrough Award, a prize package designed to finance the winning director’s next short film and bolster their career. The showcase also features a brand-new program dedicated to films produced by high school students.

This year’s lineup once again celebrates the presence of nationally renowned talent and familiar figures from the independent film scene. Music also plays a prominent role, with works celebrating funk, MPB, samba, and “brega”, alongside a fruitful dialogue with literature, theater, and the history of cinema itself.

In this colorful panorama of national production spanning 2025–2026, we also highlight social movements that deserve special attention withintoday’s national film scene—movements that are reinventing the grammar of Brazilian cinema. It is a portrait of the nation rendered with aesthetic and genre equity, alongside diversity in regions, themes, and political subjects. These are works that do not shy away from taking risks.