A Chinese producer has said that the elevated profile of Brazilian cinema in her country has created an ideal climate for co-productions with the South American giant.
“For a long time, Chinese audiences only knew films like Central Station [1998] and City Of God [2002],” said producer Shen Kemin, who founded Cute Cam Pictures and serves as a representative of Shanghai Film Distribution and Exhibition Association. “But now, we’ve broadened our perspective on Brazil with The Secret Agent [2025] and I’m Still Here [2024], which were well-received.”
Shen called for more year-round reciprocal distribution of each country’s films. “We need to expand the sale of films between our markets, going beyond the negotiations that, in practice, take place almost exclusively during international film festivals,” she said.
Jacqueline Sato, a partner and producer at the distributor Sato Company, which primarily brings Asian films to Brazil, wants to serve as a bridge between the two countries. “We have already brought in many Chinese titles, such as John Woo’s early films,” she said, “but they have always been fewer in number compared to the titles we’ve distributed from Japan and South Korea.”
Sato joined Shen and Uta Schwietzer, vice-president of Brazil’s Federation Of Audiovisual Industry And Trade (FICA) and a founding member and representative on Latin America–China Business Federation (FENLAC), on the panel ’New Markets: Co-Production And Circulation Between Brazil And China’. The session took place at the sixth Audiovisual Ideas Market, the business arm of the 50th São Paulo International Film Festival, known as Mostra de São Paulo.
Mutual cooperation
The session focused on cooperation between the countries, and looked at what is required to formalise co-productions, and what strategies Brazilian producers can adopt to secure Chinese partners after the Brazilian senate approved a film co-production agreement in July. Brazil rarely engages with China in co-productions, although panelists noted its size and ability to go head-to-head with, and at times surpass, the US in terms of audience size and box office revenue.
“It takes not only a good story, but an idea that also fits what the Chinese are looking to see in cinema today,’’ Schwietzer said. “The fact that Brazil possesses such exuberant nature also makes a big difference. There are many documentaries from Brazil that would be of interest to Chinese producers.”
July’s bilateral agreement means that films produced in partnership by production companies from both countries are considered domestic works in the Brazilian and Chinese markets, granting them access to the incentives and other benefits.
“For a co-production, there is a condition: the investment from each side must be between 20% and 80%,” Shen said. “If the Chinese company contributes at least 20% of the total budget, the Chinese government will provide benefits for the film’s production.”
Sato highlighted two films that she distributed in Brazil: The Wandering Earth (2019), which grossed approximately $700m worldwide, and prequel The Wandering Earth 2 (2023), which grossed more than $615m worldwide.
Brazilian actress Daniela Tassy played an astronaut in The Wandering Earth 2. The casting of Tassy in the story about nations cooperating to save humanity from the threat of a rapidly-expanding Sun serves as an example of the kind of stories that can be showcased in Brazil and China co-productions.
One co-production currently underway is the animated series Ho-Ho And The Sound Of Brazil, involving CCTV Animation from China Media Group (CMG), and the Brazilian companies Amorim Filmes and LC Barreto.
The series, about a Chinese panda with a passion for music who arrives in Brazil in search of new sounds, is in the final stages of production.
Brazilian João Amorim, the general director of the series, came up with the idea to co-produce with China. “For a long time I’ve wanted to enter the Chinese market, given the scale of their animation sector,” Amorim said. “Last year alone, Ne Zha 2 grossed over $2.2bn globally [with approximately 97% of the box office coming from China], a better performance than any Pixar film.”
China has been a focus at the Audiovisual Ideas Market given that 2026 marks the official China-Brazil Year of Culture.
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