Expocine, Latin America’s Largest Movie Theater Trade Show, Reflects the International Visibility and B.O. Performance of Brazilian Films
by Marcelo Cajueiro · VarietyThe 12th edition of Expocine, the largest and most important business gathering of the motion picture cinema theater industry in Latin America, takes place in São Paulo from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3. The event’s programming and mood reflect the high international visibility of Brazilian films and their rising B.O. performance in the domestic market.
“I’m Still Here” won this year an unprecedented International Feature Film Academy Award for Brazil. Along with “A Dog’s Will 2” (“O Auto da Compadecida 2,” the Walter Salles-helmed pic was the major driver of rising box office performance for Brazilian films.
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According to the National Cinema Agency (Ancine), Brazilian pics scored a 10.1% market share of the country’s total 125.4 million ticket sales and R$2.5 billion ($454 million) B.O. in 2024, sharply up from a 3% share in admissions and 3.3% share in B.O.) in 2023. Over Jan. 2-Aug. 20 this year, local pics accounted for 11.4 percent of the ticket sales and 10.6 percent of the B.O. in the country.
Marcelo Lima, CEO of Tonks, Expocine’s organizer, said this year’s event will discuss how to turn the international visibility of Brazilian productions into a drive for the sustainable development of the local film and TV industry.
“‘I’m Still Here’ is the most notorious example of the Brazilian production sector high quality standards and maturity, but there are others” Lima said. “Take a look at ‘Senna,’ a TV series produced by Gullane for Netflix, a global hit praised for its production value.”
Aother recent internationally acclaimed Brazilian pic is “The Blue Trail,” Gabriel Mascaro’s dystopian drama that received the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Berlin Fest.
All eyes are now on Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent.” The historical political suspense won at Cannes 2025 the best actor award for Wagner Moura, director for Mendonça and the Art House Cinema Award and a Fipresci Prize. Vitrine will bow the film in Brazil on Nov. 6. Neon release “The Secret Agent” in New York on Nov. 26 and in L.A. on Dec. 5, and eventually expands to the nationwide circuit.
Before its theatrical release, “The Secret Agent” is touring film fests in Brazil and several other countries. It opens the 60th edition of the traditional Brasilia Fest on Sept. 12.
“Brazil, in recent years, is an extremely fertile place for storytelling, because the element of the absurd here is always incredibly rich for creating fiction”, Mendonça told Variety. “We are making beautiful films that are travelling the world, such as ‘I’m Still Here,’ ‘The Blue Trail’ and ‘The Secret Agent.’”
Mendonça added to the list of recent Brazilian films with international visibility “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” Petra Costa’s doc about the influence of evangelical Christianity on far-right politics in Brazil. It premiered in 2024 at Venice and was theatrically released in July 2025 in both Brazil and the U.S., shortly before its global release on Netflix July 14.
“Each of these films, in a certain way, represents Brazil and functions like a diplomat who travels the world bringing news, offering a point of view and marking our country’s presence globally. I believe that’s what people call soft power, and I think Brazilian cinema has everything it needs to keep that trend going,” he told Variety.
Lima will moderate the panel Brazil, Window to the World in Expocine 2025, which aims to discuss the central theme of the event: how the current visibility of local productions can lead to the construction of a sustainable film and TV industry in Brazil.
“The Secret Agent” will be the case study at Expocine Decupa – the verb “decupar” in Portuguese means “to breakdown the footage.” Six 45-minute panels with the pic’s production team, including the film producer Emilie Lesclaux, will provide detailed information about its direction and casting; exec and pre-production; sound design, recording and tracks; art direction and costume design; editing; and distribution and commercialization.
Other Expocine sessions will discuss Brazil’s hot button issue of VOD regulation; ways to boost co-productions and the distribution and exhibition of films within Latin America; film piracy; the popularity of K-dramas in Brazil; Generation Z consumer habits; accessibility for persons with special needs; the U.S. majors’ decisions for the upcoming 10 years, and big data.
Besides the panels, the event will feature workshops and presentations and screenings by distributors to exhibitors, as well as a trade fair.
It will be held in two venues 150 meters away from each other near São Paulo’s main Paulista Avenue, the landmark Renaissance Hotel and multiplex Cine Marquise.
Lima estimates about 2,500 people will take part on Expocine 2025. Most participants are traditionally Brazilians from different parts of the country, with a concentration of attendees from São Paulo, where the majority of the largest distributors and exhibitors are headquartered. Part of the participants are from Latin American countries, particularly hailing from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay.