Yahoo News Brazilian Industry Bastion Canal Brasil Drives Into Diversity Led by a Marcelo Gomes ‘Paloma’ Spin-Off Series (EXCLUSIVE)
RIO DE JANEIRO — Canal Brasil, a key Brazilian industry player as the country’s pay-TV channel focused on national titles from independent producers, has announced a package of four fiction and doc TV series and a feature-length doc, which are set for release over 2025-2027.
Feature-length doc “Dona Onete” is produced by Hysteria, the division dedicated to developing female narratives of top production company Conspiracao. It delivers a portrait of 84-year old singer Dona Onete, the “Queen of Carimbo,” a music genre traditional of Para, the Northern Brazilian state located in the Amazon Rainforest region. Mini Kerti, whose music doc “Refavela 40” was nominated for the Emmy, will helm “Dona Onete.” Lensing begins this June; Canal Brasil is due to bow the series in 2025.
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“This project celebrates a woman who is important for Brazilian music, showed [northern Brazilian state of] Pará to the world and broke barriers. By telling her story, we are showcasing the region’s culture, the traditions, fauna and flora present in her songs,” Luisa Barbosa, head of Hysteria, told Variety.
“Paloma” is a spin-off from helmer Marcelo Gomes’ homonymous drama feature. The sixth pic of Gomes, released in 2022, had a strong fest run.
Based on a true story, the pic’s protagonist is Paloma, a poor, black, peasant, transsexual woman who struggles to get married with her partner in a traditional church ceremony. In Brazil’s impoverished, rural Northeast, a conservative region, the church did not allow the ceremony.
Gomes will direct the series, a Carnaval Filmes’ production with four episodes of 50 minutes. Canal Brasil expects to release it next year.
“Cafe com canela” (“Coffee and Cinnamon”) is a spin-off from the 2017 low-budget first feature of Glenda Nicacio e Ary Rosa, who will also direct the new series. Set in Sao Felix, a small town in Bahia state, the drama is centered on Margarida, who lives in isolation following the death of her son, until a former student knocks on her door.
As for the pic, Rosza Filmes will produce the series, which will have six episodes of 50 minutes and is expected to drop on Canal Brasil over 2026-2027.
“Coligay” weighs in as a doc series about the homonymous pioneering gay organized fan group of Gremio, one of the most popular soccer teams in Brazil. Coligay’s members attended Gremio’s matches over 1977-1983, when they faced opposition from a generally sexist soccer scene as well as repression from the police of Brazil’s then military dictatorship.
Querosene Producoes will produce the series, which will have four episodes of 30 minutes. Canal Brasil plans to air it over 2026-2027.
“Amora” is a series based on the homonymous book of Natalia Borges Polesso, which received the important Jabuti prize in 2016. The book is a collection of Polesso’s short stories dealing with sex discoveries, treason, aging, prejudice and passion in the lesbian universe.
Caroline Fioratti will helm the series which is made up of four episodes of 40 minutes. Big Bonsai Brasilis will be the production company.
“‘Paloma’ and ‘Cafe com canela’ are series that pave the way for spin-offs of films. ‘Coligay’ and ‘Amora’ further strengthen Canal Brasil’s stand for diversity in all forms of expression,” André Saddy, general director of Canal Brasil, told Variety. “These projects are an expression of the 26 years of history of Canal Brasil, the greatest partner of the Brazilian film sector.”
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