Festival do Rio Day 5: Cannes Winner Back at the Odeon

By The Rio Times | Created at 2026-10-05 07:31:50 | Updated at 2026-10-05 08:39:21 1 hour ago

The Theatro Municipal on Cinelândia square in central Rio de Janeiro

Brazil · Life & Culture, 5 October 2026

Key Facts

—The festival. The 28th Festival do Rio runs 1–11 October across Rio de Janeiro. Monday 5 October is day five of eleven.

—Today. Monday brings Cannes prize-winner A Bola Preta back to the Cine Odeon at 6:45 p.m., Shinya Tsukamoto’s new film at Botafogo and a day of free sessions and industry panels (all times Rio, one hour ahead of New York).

—The weekend. Saturday 3 October put Berlin’s Golden Bear winner Cartas Amarelas and a gala screening attended by Asghar Farhadi on the programme.

—Brazilian cinema. The Première Brasil strand continues with filmmaker debates, and Carlos Saldanha’s 100 Dias is due for its world premiere as the Brazilian closing gala.

—Why it matters. The festival gives Brazil’s Oscar entry Feito Pipa a gala screening this week, runs the RioMarket industry meeting alongside, and is one of the city’s biggest cultural draws for visitors in October.

The Festival do Rio reaches its fifth day with a Cannes prize-winner at the historic Cine Odeon, a full industry programme and free screenings across the city. For visitors, Monday is one of the easiest days to dip in.

What Monday Brings

The evening centres on the Cine Odeon in Cinelândia. At 6:45 p.m. the festival screens A Bola Preta (The Black Ball), the Spanish film by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi that opened the festival on Thursday 1 October and shared the Best Director prize at Cannes this year.

Across town, the Cinesystem Belas Artes cinema in Botafogo carries the international strand. Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s Dau screens at 1 p.m. and Shinya Tsukamoto’s Sr. Nelson, o Senhor Matou Pessoas?, which follows a veteran tormented by post-traumatic stress, at 6:30 p.m. Rosa von Praunheim’s Amor Bruto follows at 9:30 p.m. in the cinema’s fourth room.

The Première Brasil competition offers the other half of the day. Three debates bring directors and casts on stage: Dragões by Miguel Antunes Ramos at 1:30 p.m. and Alucinação at 4 p.m., both at the Cine Odeon, and O Deserto de Luiza at 4:15 p.m. at the Estácio Claro Rio 5 cinema.

Free Screenings and the Industry Side

Several strands cost nothing. At the Centro Cultural FGV, the festival shows Nação Ubuntu by Paulo Henrique Fontenelle at 6:45 p.m. and Janela da Alma by João Jardim and Walter Carvalho at 9:30 p.m., a documentary. The Getulio Vargas Foundation takes part this year with 19 free films between 3 and 11 October. At the CineCarioca Penha, free sessions bring Ritas at 4 p.m. and Sexa at 6 p.m.

The RioMarket industry meeting fills the Armazém da Utopia in the port district. Monday opens with pitch sessions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a panel on Brazilian funding from 2 p.m. and a session on artificial intelligence in audiovisual production from 3 p.m. A global curation discussion runs from 4:30 p.m. and a panel on Brazilian fantastic cinema from 6 p.m.

Crowds outside the Cine Odeon in Cinelândia, Rio de Janeiro, lit up at night during the Festival do Rio

How the Weekend Went

Saturday 3 October brought several international highlights. The programme included Cartas Amarelas by İlker Çatak, winner of the Golden Bear in Berlin, and Rosebush Pruning by Karim Aïnouz, presented with the director in attendance. Asghar Farhadi attended a gala screening of his film Contos Paralelos and also gave an open class at the RioMarket meeting that day.

The Brazilian competition was present too: Lucia Murat presented O Sertão das Nossas Memórias in the Première Brasil strand. Sunday kept the free sessions and the RioMarket programme going.

Behind the screenings, the opening night carried news for the city. At the gala, Rio’s culture secretary Lucas Padilha announced the commercial reopening of the Cine Odeon, which turns 100 this year, under the Reviver Cinema programme for street cinemas.

Why the Festival Matters Beyond the Screens

The Festival do Rio is one of the largest film events in Latin America, and it works as a shop window for Brazilian cinema abroad. Allan Deberton’s Feito Pipa was chosen to represent Brazil in the Best International Feature race at the 2027 Oscars and receives a gala screening in Rio on Tuesday 6 October. For American readers following the Academy Awards, the festival is an early look at films that may reach US screens and streamers.

The edition also stages the world premiere of 100 Dias, the new film by Carlos Saldanha, director of the Rio animated films, inspired by sailor Amyr Klink’s solo row across the South Atlantic. It is billed as the Brazilian closing gala, on 10 October at the Cine Odeon. The date of the awards ceremony for the Trophéu Redentor was not confirmed in the sources we could check, so we do not give one here.

For visitors, the practical points are simple. Screenings run daily until 11 October, tickets for paid sessions are sold through Ingresso.com, and some sessions are free, with tickets handed out at the cinema box office. Rio is one hour ahead of New York until the US clocks change on 1 November, so a 6:45 p.m. screening starts at 5:45 p.m. on the US East Coast.

Earlier coverage: Day 2 report and our full festival guide.

More: Brazil news, every day from The Rio Times.

When does Festival do Rio 2026 take place?

The 28th edition runs from 1 to 11 October 2026 across cinemas in Rio de Janeiro. Galas take place at the Cine Odeon in Cinelândia, and the industry meeting sits at the Armazém da Utopia in the port district.

What is on at Festival do Rio on Monday 5 October?

Monday includes A Bola Preta at the Cine Odeon at 6:45 p.m., Shinya Tsukamoto’s Sr. Nelson, o Senhor Matou Pessoas? at 6:30 p.m. in Botafogo, three Première Brasil debates and free sessions at the Centro Cultural FGV and CineCarioca Penha.

Are there free screenings at Festival do Rio?

Yes. The Cinema Circulação strand runs free sessions in neighbourhood cinemas, and the Getulio Vargas Foundation offers 19 free films between 3 and 11 October.