The Rio International Film Festival is the largest gathering of the audiovisual industry in Latin America. The RioMarket (September 21 to October 3) will screen more than 600 films and is where international buyers get their first look at recent Brazilian and Latin American film productions.

"Since 2002, (Brazilian) cinema has increasingly captured the attention of international audiences," says Ellen Pittleman, senior vice-president of international co-production and worldwide acquisitions at Paramount Pictures International. "Our company has got involved in supporting local production with successful releases such as Miguel Faria Jr's Vinicius."

The market attracts over 600 industry professionals, with attendees this year set to include Rich Wolff, director of acquisitions at US distributor TLA Releasing, Ann Rose, supervising producer of the Sundance Channel, and Genna Terranova, vice-president of acquisitions at The Weinstein Company.

A series of seminars will also run. "This year RioMarket will focus on media convergence, discussing all audiovisual production possibilities," says Walkiria Barbosa, the RioMarket director.