RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — The 2026 edition of Rio2C, the largest creativity gathering in Latin America, looks set to consolidate the event as a top international meeting, particularly of talents and execs from Spanish-speaking countries in the region, said Rafael Lazarini, Rio2C’s founder.
Organizers expect the seventh in-person edition of the event, which will take place over May 27-31 period, to break last year’s record attendance of 55,000 people and 2,088 speakers and players from 39 countries.
Brazil is the largest and most populous country in Latin America but the only Portuguese-speaking one. Yet historically there is an insufficient integration between its creative industry and those in surrounding Spanish-speaking nations.
“Rio2C has significantly expanded its overall international presence this year,” Lazarini said. “We have particularly worked to break down the wall between Brazil and our Spanish-speaking neighbors, bringing creators and executives from Latin America. This 2026 edition consolidates Rio2C as the major gathering of the creative audiovisual industries of Latin American countries.”
Lazarini stressed the strength of the creative sector in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, seen in award-winning films from Argentina and the international presence of Colombian music.
Argentine L.A.-based producer Axel Kuschevatzky, CCO and founder of production company Infinity Hill, will speak at the Rio2C’s panel Creative Production to Conquer Relevance and Audience.
He has contributed to over 100 films in the past 16 years, including Oscar-winner “The Secret in Their Eyes,” Golden Globe-winner “Argentina, 1985,” Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winner “Wild Tales,” Golden Globe-nominated “Neruda,” Cannes Critics’ Week-winner “Paulina” and Venice Silver Lion-winner “The Clan.”
“Rio 2C is basically the premium creative industry event in the Latin American whole region. It’s huge in both scale and the kind of people and things you can find there,” Kuschevatzky said.
“Usually you have forums that are focused on one single thing. In Rio2C, there is such a wide array of different industries at the same time. It’s frankly mind-blowing. You can find music, video games, commercials, features and TV, you have everything.”
Kuschevatzky formerly worked for Viacom and Telefónica, and has collaborated with renowned filmmakers and actors, such as Juan José Campanella, Álex de la Iglesia, Pablo Larraín, Pedro Almodóvar, Gael García Bernal, Antonio Banderas, Viggo Mortensen and Ricardo Darín.
Kuschevatzky’s Infinity Hill, he said, produces regularly about six feature films per year, in English, Spanish and other languages, usually international co-productions. They are currently working on two film projects in Brazil: Barbara Paz’s debut fiction feature “Cuddle,” with the just-announced Fernanda Torres and William Dafoe. The Conspiração production also stars Selton Mello (Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” Tom Gormican’s “Anaconda”).
“In Argentina, as odd as it may seem, I grew up watching Brazilian films. The world is now discovering the Brazilian cinema, thanks to ‘I’m Still Here’ and ‘The Secret Agent,’ but it has been great since the early days of sound,” said Kuschevatzky, who is particularly fond of Brazilian director and producer Alberto Cavalcanti (1897-1982).
“I’ll tell you, this is my third year in a row in Rio2C, and the last two times, I came back with projects,” he added.
Rio2C 2026 will feature an extensive program with important international talents and industry speakers.
Panelists include Argentine Daniel Burman, announced head of original content Disney+ Latam this February and creator of series “Yosi, the Regretful Spy” and most recently “So Far So Good.” Also set to talk is Uruguayan musician Jorge Drexler, the winner of the 2005 Oscar for original song for “Al Otro Lado del Río” from the film “The Motorcycle Diaries.”
Argentine Gastón Gorali, producer and writer of the new animated adaptation of “Mafalda” for Netflix, and Brazilian Daniel Rezende, director of films such as “Turma da Mônica: Laços” and an Oscar nominee for his work as a film editor, will discuss the challenges of adapting classic Latin American comic books for contemporary audiovisual media, balancing fidelity, updated language, and dialogue with new platforms.
American Adam Chase, executive producer and writer of “Friends,” and Brazilian comedian Fábio Porchat, of Porta dos Fundos, will be together in the panel “Universal Comedy Labs,” debating the limits of humor in the age of social media and its circulation across cultures.
Spaniard Javier Gómez Santander, executive producer and a key writer on “Money Heist” (“La Casa de Papel”), will address the creation of high-tension narratives and characters that have become global icons.
Francisco Ramos, Netflix’s VP of content for Latin America, will lecture at the panel From Latin America to the World: The New Audiovisual Cartography. He will discuss how Latin America is experiencing a moment of prominence in the global audiovisual landscape and deeply local stories are crossing borders and becoming international cultural phenomena.
Arturo Chavez, managing partner at Delart Distribution, a company specialized in content distribution across the U.S, Canada, Puerto Rico, Latin America and Spain, will talk at the panel How to Define the Ideal Distribution Strategy.
Pablo Iraola, a producer at Portugal’s Ukbar Filmes, Rodrigo Olaio, executive producer at Chatrone, and Ana Saito, executive producer at Gullane, will discuss strategies to make global projects viable and to expand the international circulation of content in the panel International Co-Production: How to Build the Ideal Partnership.
“We used to be isolated here, in our own corner in Brazil, due to the language barrier and even a lack of willingness to integrate. But the integration with the creative industries of other Latin American countries has been gaining traction with Rio2C,” said Lazarini.
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