Spcine Looks to Develop With Hubert Bals Fund, South Africa’s NFVF

“Our goal is to keep supporting São Paulo’s — and by extension, Brazil’s — presence on the global audiovisual stage. We want our films, stories, and professionals to be seen, recognized, and valued worldwide,” says Spcine CEO Lyara Oliveira. 

One milestone move in international outreach looks set to be made at the Cannes’ Marché du Film, where Spcine and South Africa’s National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) will launch a joint call for submissions for a pilot international co-development program.

In Cannes, Spcine and Brazil’s Riofilme and Projeto Paradiso will reveal a development scheme in partnership with Rotterdam’s Hubert Bals Fund to launch to launch HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support.

Put together, the two initiatives take Spcine’s international outreach to a trailblazing new level. 

HBF+Brazil targets the early development of projects by first and second time filmmakers from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the rest of Brazil. 

In the pilot year of the planned three-year initiative, HBF+Brazil will support up to nine fiction film projects in early development, directed by a Brazilian filmmaker and with a Brazilian production company attached, giving grants of €10,000 ($11,300) to each title.

As the management partner, HBF will launch the call for projects in the second half of 2025 on IFFR.com. HBF+Brazil partners , however, will sign a co-operation agreement at the Cannes Film Festival. 

The scheme targets “unique, innovative and culturally significant storytelling” from Brazil via financial support and the enhanced international visibility of Brazilian filmmaking talent, while fostering international collaboration, the partners said May 12.

Many of Brazil’s leading filmmakers – including Kleber Mendonça Filho, Marcelo Gomes, Gabriel Mascaro and Julia de Simone – have benefitted from HBF support at key moments in their careers, noted Vanja Kalujdercic, IFFR…