By Brazil Stock Guide — Brazil’s development bank BNDES is bringing back its traditional film grant after a nine-year hiatus, allocating R$15 million (US$2.7 million) to finance 25 feature films. Each project may receive up to R$600,000 (US$110,000) and must be released in theaters or streaming platforms by 2026.
The program will support projects across five categories — commercial fiction, auteur-driven fiction, documentaries, animation, and films already selected by festivals. Applications are open until October 27, 2025.
The initiative is part of the government’s broader cultural policy agenda. According to BNDES, the grant aims to strengthen the audiovisual industry, create jobs, and promote cultural diversity. “The return of the grant reinforces Brazil’s cultural diversity and its audiovisual ecosystem,” Culture Minister Margareth Menezes said.
Between 1995 and 2017, BNDES-backed calls for projects financed more than 400 works, consolidating the bank as a major institutional sponsor of Brazilian cinema. The 2025 revival underscores the government’s renewed role in fostering the film industry at a time when producers face tighter funding and increased competition for theaters and digital platforms.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The last grant was issued in 2016, during a period when BNDES became Brazil’s top institutional sponsor of national cinema. Its discontinuation left a funding gap that the industry struggled to fill. The 2025 relaunch is seen as a symbolic milestone in rebuilding cultural financing.
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