On 15 October 2023 Festival do Rio will announce the winners of the competitive sections of the festival. The official Festival do Rio jury for Première Brasil will decide to which films, producers, directors, actors, and crew the festival’s official prizes are awarded, and who gets to take home the Troféu Redentor.

Première Brasil’s New Trends section and Felix have their own juries.

PREMIERE BRASIL – COMPETITION

Laís Bodanzky - Presidente

Director, screenwriter and film producer. Her films include Bicho de Sete Cabeças (2000), Chega de Saudade (2007), Como Nossos Pais (2017) and A Viagem de Pedro (2021). For 15 years she co-ordinated the Tela Brasil projects and for two years she was CEO of Spcine. Since 2019 she has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

Gaia Furrer

Born in 1975, she studied film history at La Sapienza University in Rome. She has worked with Film Italia, the public agency in charge of promoting Italian cinema internationally. In 2020 she was appointed artistic director of Giornate degli Autori, where she has worked since its first edition.

Isabél Zuaa

Born in Lisbon, she brings with her a rich mosaic of cultural origins: her paternal roots go back to Guinea-Bissau, while her maternal roots stretch as far as Angola. Since 2010, she has followed a multifaceted path, collaborating on dance, film, theatre and television projects in Portugal, Brazil and Italy.

João Vieira Jr.

João Vieira Jr. studied law. A partner in Carnaval Filmes, he has produced 17 feature films, four series and six shorts that have been selected and awarded prizes at festivals such as Berlin, Cannes, Rio, Toronto and Venice. Highlights include Cinema, Aspirinas e Urubus (2005), Tatuagem (2013), Joaquim (2017) and Greta (2019).

Renata Pinheiro

Director, screenwriter and art director. Her latest film, Carro Rei (2021), was the big winner at the 2021 Gramado Film Festival and won Best Screenplay at Raindance. Renata won the Fénix and Platino awards for Zama (2017) and is also known for Sugar (2017) and Love, Plastic and Noise (2013).

PREMIERE BRASIL – NEW TRENDS

Johnny Massaro - President

Actor, director and producer from Rio de Janeiro. With a degree in cinema, he has appeared in plays, series, soap operas and films over his 20-year career. As a director, he premiered his third short film, Depois Quando, at the 23rd Rio Film Festival. This year he is releasing A Cozinha, his first feature film.

Beatriz Seigner

Screenwriter and director of Los Silencios (2018), which premiered at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight and received the CICAE award from European distributors, and won Best Director and Best Film from the critics at the Brasilia Film Festival. She also wrote and directed Bollywood Dream (2010) and Between Us, A Secret (2021).

Jéssica Ellen

One of the leading actresses of her generation, she made her mark on Brazil with her role in the soap opera Amor de Mãe (2019). She has also acted in the series Justiça (2016), the musical Meu Destino É Ser Star and films such as Regeneração (2016), Três Verões (2019), Cabeça de Nêgo (2020) and Último Domingo (2022).

Pedro Bronz

Director and editor. He has experience with fiction, documentaries, TV programmes, music videos, commercials and institutional work. His films include Andança - Os Encontros e as Memórias de Beth Carvalho (2022), A Farra do Circo (2013) and Herbert de Perto (2008).

PRÊMIO FELIX

Sandro Fiorin - President

Raised in Rio de Janeiro, he studied film in São Paulo and New York where he lived and worked for 14 years before moving to California. In 2006, he co-founded FiGa Films to produce, distribute and commercialise Latin American content around the world. He has served on the juries of various festivals.

Andrea Capella

She studied architecture, art history and scenography and graduated in cinema from UFF. She has collaborated on various projects and directed, with Peter Lucas, the short film Instantâneos (2009), awarded Best Film at the Primeiro Plano Festival. As a visual artist, she develops work in media such as photography, video and drawing.

Pedro Henrique França

Director, screenwriter, actor and journalist. Founder of the production company Representa, he has directed and devised award-winning music videos, as well as writing scripts for TV programmes and the series Quebrando o Tabu (2018-2019). His documentary Corpolítica (2022) won awards at Queer Lisboa, the Rio Film Festival and MixBrasil.

Wescla Vasconcelos

From Ceará, she has a master's degree in communication, is director of FórumTT-RJ and founder of the SERTRANSNEJAS collective. Actress in the documentary Indianara (2019), the series Arcanjo Renegado (2021) and the film Paloma (2022). Screenwriter and director of the films Transcinema (2021) and Traviarcas (2023). Assistant director of the short film Não Resta Silêncio (2023).