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Back in 2018, Brazilian heiress and philanthropist Olga Rabinovich sat her team down and gave them a mission: to find the most effective way to nurture a cause in dire need of effective financial support in her home country. After a year of research, Olga found her answer in the film industry, launching the Olga Rabinovich Institute the same year and Projeto Paradiso a year later.  

Projeto Paradiso offers a wide range of support to Brazilian screen professionals to maximize their presence on the global stage. The organization is heavily focused on internationalization, working with partners to connect national talent with opportunities worldwide and offering bursaries, training opportunities and carefully curated resources. The initiative was recently behind buzzy festival titles such as Allan Deberton’s Berlinale-winning “Gugu’s World” and Grace Passô’s “Our Secret,” and boasts a talent network of 264 professionals, including Anita Rocha da Silveira (“Medusa”), Juliana Rojas (“Good Manners”) and Dira Paes (“Manas”).

The work of Projeto Paradiso is almost unprecedented in terms of scope and ease of bureaucracy. Given that Rabinovich is the single source of funding and operates without admin-heavy regulatory bodies, the institute has a surprising malleability and agility in how it can support talent. As Projeto Paradiso celebrates its third talent network national meeting in Recife, Variety sat down with Rabinovich and associate Roberta de Oliveira e Corvo to talk about the origins of the institute, its differentials and how one woman is singlehandedly changing the present and future of Brazilian cinema. 

“I have been so immensely privileged in my life and have always been very aware of this privilege and my luck,” says Rabinovich. “One day, I sat down with my long-time lawyer and friend, Roberta, and told her that I wanted to give back somehow. I’ve had wonderful opportunities in life, and I felt like I wanted to enable others to have similar chances.”

When Rabinovich first heard of the issues plaguing the Brazilian film industry, she immediately felt she had found her cause. “I loved the idea of supporting cinema because I feel it is a magical art form,” she says. “You enter a screening room without knowing whether you’ll be elated or disturbed or moved. It’s a transformative experience. I think it’s incredible to have a communal artistic experience that moves you like this. I was immediately onboard.”

After a lengthy research, the institute’s team realized there was a lack of investment in development despite the country boasting healthy incentives and public funding systems. “It was unanimous at that time that the national film industry was not struggling with production per se, because there was a structure in place that was nurturing that side of the market,” adds Corvo. “What we learned is that Brazilian filmmakers had no time to mature their scripts because they needed to make a living while trying to conduct this creative work. That’s when we first came up with the idea of the incubator.”

The incubator became Projeto Paradiso’s first initiative, despite the organization not having been formally named at the time. “Then came Bolsonaro, and we became a much bigger initiative, supporting a much wider network,” recalls Rabinovich. “Bolsonaro wanted to destroy culture altogether. I put my foot down and said: No. We won’t let that happen. Let’s see what we can do.”

When under Bolsonaro funding for Brazil’s national film agency Ancine and other initiatives plunged, Rabinovich stepped up to help Brazilian filmmakers cover travel costs to attend major international festivals. This quick thinking and even quicker action became ingrained in the institute’s ethos. Walking around Recife’s Cais do Sertão, where the Projeto Paradiso Talent Network National Meeting is currently taking place, one could hear producers, directors and writers praising how effective the program is. A producer who asked to remain unnamed said it took less than a week between the Paradiso team confirming they would grant her a travel bursary to a European festival and the money landing in her bank account. “I have been a producer for over two decades and have never seen anything like it.”

Enquired as to how they can operate this efficiently, Corvo says the answer is “simple and frankly quite sad.” “We are dealing with private funds, managed by a single entity. We don’t need to have a long compliance process for every single decision. We have a fiscal board that oversees our work, but we waste very little time in making things happen. If one of our team members comes to us and tells us that someone got selected for a program and they need to jump on the chance right away, we make it happen quickly. We have direct channels between us and talent.”

It also helps that the institute is dealing with relatively small grants, a decision that was made very early on in the company’s establishment. “We opted to offer several smaller grants that could have a meaningful impact on a person and their project instead of only being able to provide one or two massively inflated grants,” adds Corvo.

“I remember the day Josephine [Bourgois, Projeto Paradiso’s executive director] told us about the idea of ‘final cash,’ which is the last bit of money a filmmaker needs to finalize their project. This is often the equivalent of $3,000, but it can make or break a project. Suddenly, the institute can come in and make that happen very quickly. We had people coming to us in tears, sending us long letters… It’s incredible to see the impact of a grant like it.”

Rabinovich is almost like a rock star at the talent network gathering, often being stopped by grateful grantees in the labyrinthine corridors of Cais do Sertão. The warmth she feels at the event makes the philanthropist visibly emotional. “It is such an immense honor and an almost overwhelming feeling of satisfaction,” she says. “I can’t quite believe I have started something that felt so small at the time and that has grown to such success. It is very moving but also feels like a huge responsibility. I’m just grateful we can make it happen.”

As for the future, Rabinovich says she is steadfast in making her charitable work a long-term initiative. “We had a meeting when Projeto Paradiso turned five to think about the next five years and what our priorities were when it came to professionalization,” she recalls. “We wanted to have everything in place to ensure that this is an initiative that can be perpetuated. I don’t want this to have an expiration date. I would love for it to work in perpetuity, and I fully believe we will make it happen.”

SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains plot details from Season 2 of “Beef,” now streaming on Netflix

Netflix’s “Beef” is back for a second season, and the anthology series is wild, revolving around two couples, Josh (Oscar Isaac) and Lindsay (Carey Mulligan) and Austin (Charles Melton) and Ashley (Cailee Spaeny). One of the most intense scenes comes in Episode 5 when Lindsay’s beloved dog, Burberry, has gone missing after Ashley snuck into their house and accidentally left the back door open. After hours of searching, Lindsay comes upon a coyote attacking Burberry and, without a second thought, kills the coyote with her bare hands.

“That was basically what made me want to do it,” Mulligan says.

Creator Lee Sung Jin had not yet fleshed out all eight episodes of “Beef” when Mulligan sat down with him over Zoom, but there was one thing he knew for certain. Mulligan says, “He was like, ‘but I know exactly what happens in Episode 5.’ He pitched the whole episode around losing the dog and ending with that coyote.”

“Shooting it was kind of crazy,” she adds. “But I was very motivated by the idea of that scene.”

This season of “Beef” takes place at an upscale Montecito country club. Isaac plays the club’s general manager, and Lindsay, is an interior decorator there. Gen Z couple Ashley and Austin work at the club, but are at the lower end of the pay scale.

The “Beef” kicks off when Austin and Ashley witness Josh and Lindsay in a heated, violent argument, and capture it on video, suddenly finding themselves with some leverage to blackmail the older couple. Things quickly spiral into a web of lies, power dynamics and desperation. The conflict between Josh and Lindsay escalates, and the coyote scene marks a turning point for Lindsay and her marriage.

“In that whole time, she had never really figured out anything that she cared about or was particularly good at,” Mulligan says of Lindsay. “I think that was a big part of what I found interesting about her — that with all she had built her life on with this marriage, she didn’t really have an identity that she could hold on to.”

Killing the coyote might be an unhinged moment, but Mulligan says: “It’s the realization that the marriage is completely over, and that the only thing in the world that she feels has reciprocal love and understanding for her is this dog. So killing that coyote in defense of the dog is this enormous act of love, but also realizing that you only have that an animal — that you don’t have with people in your life.”

In the next episode, Lindsay has changed. “She cares less about what people think,” Mulligan says. “Much of the first half of the show, she’s being so consumed by how she’s perceived. After she kills the coyote, she’s like, ‘Fuck it. I’ve just got to win somehow. I’ve got to find my path to survival. So I thought it was quite liberating thing for her.”

Before shooting, Isaac sat down with Lee to figure out who Josh is, and where he is in his career and marriage. “We started constructing the character together based on an initial idea of circumstances that happened in the show, and that was it was an incredible thing to do.”

The exploration process with Lee was valuable to both Mulligan and Isaac in working out their respective backstories and understanding who their characters were and what drove them.

When it came to Josh, who appears to be bad with money and desperate to hold on to his youth. Isaac says: “He got this vibe. I’m the young, cool, hip guy — everything’s fine. And then what he does at home, and the tension between those things was really fun to explore.”

Josh’s attempts to achieve that young vibe is reflected at home. He’s got a mancave filled with memorabilia, and even owns a Moog synth that once belonged to his favorite band, Hot Chip. In Episode 2, he plays it — and he’s not great at it. A few episodes later, he’s up on stage, jamming with the band.

Who Josh wants to be is also reflected in his hair — yes, that’s a mini-mullet he’s rocking. Issac worked with his hair stylist Tim Nolan who suggested that style. “It’s a perfect thing that again, speaks to somebody that’s trying to hold on to a particular image of youth,” Isaac says. “And one that shows a sense of relaxation and of energy — even though he’s just being strangled the entire time.”

Josh starts stealing money from the club in order to maintain his lifestyle, and hold onto his image. “He cares more about identity and he wants enough money,” Isaac says. “He’s never going to be able to be a member of this club, but this is the closest he can get to it.”

Josh, who’s surrounded by extreme wealth, feels a sense of entitlement — and he’s also been stealing money from his late mother’s bank account, “So he is already smudging the line there out of desperation,” Isaac says.

“He feels he has the right to, like all the rich people, to get his own,” Isaac says. “Whatever that means.”

Now on its 22^nd edition, the Guadalajara Film Festival (FICG) Co-Production Meeting program has grown from strength to strength, luring a wide range of directors and producers from Spain and Latin America, both new and established. There are quite a number of projects from Argentina, which has leaned more heavily on co-productions given the plunge in federal support at home. In 2024, Argentina’s right-wing populist government moved to scrap funding for the national Film-TV body, INCAA, as part of sweeping austerity measures aimed at curbing the country’s runaway inflation.

Taking place April 20–22 this year, the program requires projects in development – across fiction, documentary and animation – to have a completed screenplay and at least 20% of their financing secured.

Its primary objective is to link the participants, 19 in this edition, with industry professionals, funding bodies, producers, buyers and international distributors in order to facilitate their completion.

The selection committee this year included Peruvian filmmaker-producer Joanna Lombardi; Argentine screenwriter Juan Manuel Dartizio, Pato Portillo, creative director of content development company Real Tellers, Mexico-based Bolivian producer Gabriela Maire (“The Good Girls”) and Mexican filmmaker Samuel Sosa.

 “Cinema allows us to tell our stories and preserve them in images, narratives and words, so that in the future people can understand who we were through these films, rather than only through the works that receive the most attention or likes. This is very important for us,” said FICG Industry head Ximena Urrutia.

Among the standouts in this crop are Daniela Schneider’s “The Infinite Night,” produced by Fernanda López, Amat Escalante and Daniela Romo. It forms part of a highly diverse selection of works from different countries.

The lineup also features the Argentine project “The Other Voice,” a documentary directed by Agustina Pérez Rial, with a strong producer backing of Nicolas Gil Lavedra, Emiliano Torres and Felicitas Raffo. There’s even a U.S.-Mexico co-production “All Other Parts,” directed by Cristina Ibarra, who hails from in Los Angeles. “As neighbors, the U.S. and our community share deep ties – especially within the Latino community—grounded in common roots and an ongoing dialogue. Sustaining and strengthening that exchange is vital, particularly in the current context,” said Urrutia.

The lineup:

“All Other Parts,” (“Las partes que faltan”) Cristina Ibarra, U.S.

Developed by U.S.-based All Other Parts LLC, a documentary/hybrid production company, the project is in production. Produced by Vanessa Perez, Cristina Ibarra and Heather Courtney, it centers on cross-border surveillance themes. The film follows a man returning to El Paso after 20 years in exile, whose homecoming becomes digital confinement under ICE monitoring. The film traces how a life once defined by movement across the U.S.–Mexico border is transformed into one of enforced stillness and constant observation. As Ibarra states, it explores the shift from physical borders to invisible systems of surveillance over bodies, homes and data.

“Germaín, The Black Angel” (“Germaín, el Ángel Negro”), Tomás Alzamora Muñoz, Chile

Developed by Santiago-based Equeco, an auteur-driven Chilean production company founded in 2016 (“Denominación de origen,” “History and Geography”) the project is in development, with a slate expanding through international co-productions led by “Il Cileno” and “Hijas únicas.” Produced by Pablo Calisto, pic follows Germaín, a 16-year-old in 1967 Chile whose abandonment and nocturnal excess become the emotional engine for forming Los Ángeles Negros, one of Latin America’s most influential bands. As Alzamora states, the project reflects on “who stands behind musical phenomena and what drives them to create.”

“Her Ocean” (“El Mar La Mar”), Julian Amaru, Perú, México

Developed by Lima-based Final Abierto alongside Mexico’s Apapacho Films, the project is in pre-production for a 2027 shoot, positioning itself within a Peru–Mexico co-production pipeline focused on emerging Latin American auteur cinema. Produced by Maria Paz Barragán and Ruben Rojo, with writing by Julian Amaru and Christopher Vasquez, the coming-of-age magical realist drama follows Ray, a young fisherman fleeing homophobia and family rupture as he journeys to Iquitos in search of his mother, navigating desire, friendship and identity in the Peruvian jungle. As Amaru states, it is “a story of love and courage.”

“Here Is Not Like That” (“Aquí no es así”), Sebastian Molina Ruiz, Mexico

From Calle Calandria, the Mexican indie production outfit behind festival titles ‘Mostro” and “Todos los incendios” is developing the hybrid documentary, now in pre-production and expected to draw industry attention ahead of the 2026 World Cup. The film explores Mexico City beyond global spectacle. As Molina Ruiz states, “Here Is Not Like That” seeks to reveal “hidden mechanisms… marked by precariousness, exclusion and everyday resistance,” signaling strong auteur-driven nonfiction trends today. Diandra Arriaga (“Mostro”) and Gabriela Maldonado (“Ricochet”) produce.

“Kid” Anna Lu Machado, Brazil

Developed by Rio de Janeiro-based Raccord Produções, founded in 1993 and led by Clélia Bessa, with over 23 titles in partnership with Disney and Globo Filmes and festival presence in Venice, Cannes, and Rotterdam (“Madalena,” “The Little Prince’s Rap Against the Wicked Souls”) in co-production with Baracoa Filmes and Casa Latina Films. Produced by Bessa and executive produced by Gregorio Rodríguez, it follows a filmmaker reconstructing her father’s memory through a Cuban boxer myth, turning cinema into a space where absence becomes dialogue. Machado says: “It is “a hybrid documentary that transforms intimate loss into a universal reflection on memory and bonds.”

“Menarche,” (“Menarquia”) Jairo Gamaliel Ramos Alvarado, Panama, Spain, Peru

Developed by Panama-based Infocus Video Factory Cine & TV, “Menarche” is in preproduction as a Spain–Peru–Panama co-production with Cine y TV Teleandes SRL and Marco Antonio Toledo Oval. Reflecting industry interest in inclusive, community-driven storytelling, the film follows an androgynous pre-teen who, after their father’s death, takes on farm duties while confronting identity through her first menstruation. As Ramos notes, it portrays “ancestral rural knowledge with dignity.” Written by Elisa Puerto Aubel and Ramos, it stars Wendy Jaramillo and Christhian Esquivel Palomino.

“Name and Surname” (“Nombre y Apellidos”), Duván Duque Vargas, Colombia, France

Evidencia Films, founded by Franco Lolli (“Gente de Bien”) and behind Cannes-selected “La Perra,” partners with Continente Pictures and France’s Srab Films (“Les Misérables”) on the project, currently in advanced development and recently shortlisted for Torino Film Lab’s FeatureLab. Produced by Duque Vargas, Capucine Mahé, Franco Lolli, Christophe Barral,and Toufik Ayadi, it reflects a strong Colombia–France co-production model targeting international festivals. Drama follows a teenager drawn back into his father’s violent loan-sharking world, where escape turns into inheritance. As Mahé says, it marks “the culmination of this quest.”

“Not a River” (“No es un río”), Diego Martinez Ulansoky, Mexico, Argentina

Developed by Mexico City-based Caponeto, whose credits include “My Tender Matador” and “The Virgin of the Quarry Lake,” film is in advanced development with Argentina’s Ajimolido Films and currently seeking co-production partners and funding, reflecting ongoing industry demand for cross-border Latin American collaborations. The drama follows Tilo, who travels to a remote island after his father’s death, where buried tensions and unresolved pasts surface. As Ulansoky states, it explores “a territory where the real and the ghostly coexist,” focusing on memory and what remains unspoken.

“Our Lady of Whispers” (“El Camino Amarillo”), Ale García & Carla Sierra, México, Chile

Developed by Mexico-based El Camino Amarillo in co-production with Chile’s La Palma de Oro and La Vieja Rara, the project in development seeks additional financing and international co-production partners. Positioned within Mexico–Chile elevated horror collaborations, the drama follows a grieving mother who invokes La Susurradora after a brutal family loss, gaining destructive powers that reveal revenge as self-consumption. As Sierra states: “Rather than representing horror, we aim for the viewer to inhabit it –uncomfortable, intimate and impossible to look away from.”

“Plaster Virgins” (“Vírgenes de yeso”) Katherina Harder, Chile

Developed by northern Chile-based Volcánica Films alongside Cyan prods (“Medea,” “Delirio” by Alexandra Latishev), the project is produced by Cynthia García Calvo and written by Harder and Elisa Eliash, it reflects a focus on identity-driven narratives within culturally rooted settings. The coming-of-age LGBTQ+ drama follows Rosario, a 14-year-old girl in La Tirana who, amid a vibrant religious festival, experiences a personal awakening through her connection with an older dancer. As García Calvo states, it explores gender roles and social expectations within a unique visual and sonic universe.

“Talia After Talia” (“Talia después de Talia”), Pedro Speroni, Argentina, France, Switzerland

Developed by Argentina-based El Ojo Silva, “Talia After Talia” is in advanced development as a co-production with Les Films de l’Œil Sauvage and Alva Films, with support from the CNC Enhanced Development Grant and Stichting Connected Foundation, reflecting ongoing industry support for international co-productions. The documentary follows Talia, 27, returning to Buenos Aires’ Fuerte Apache after nine years in prison, navigating survival, stigma and autonomy. As Speroni states, the film gives her “a dignified and resonant voice.” “Talia after Talia” completes the trilogy that Speroni began with “Rancho” and “Los Bilbao,” delving into the prison universe.

“That I Die Because I Do Not Die” (“Que Muero Porque No Muero”) Felipe Carmona, Chile, Argentina

Developed by Chile-based El Otro Film, known for Queer Lyon awardee “The Prince” and “The Reborn,” the project is in advanced development with Argentina’s Le Tiro, currently seeking financing, reflecting ongoing interest in auteur-driven Chilean–Argentine co-productions with strong festival positioning. Fronted by Pablo Larraín star Alfredo Castro and Laura Paredes, drama is set in 1970s Chile follows Anglés, a priest and literary critic leading a double life between academia, clandestine Marxist instruction and secret artistic circles, until a liaison with a writer and her CIA-linked husband pulls him into a surreal spiral of political and spiritual collapse. As Carmona states, it explores “the contradiction between culture and barbarism.”

“The Friends of My Parents” (“Los amigos de mis papás”), Romina Tamburello, Argentina

Developed by Argentina-based Pez Cine in co-production with Imval Producciones and El Cielo Cine, and Tamburello’s follow-up to hit “Vera and the Pleasure of Others,” the project is in advanced development. Produced by Santiago King, it follows a standard independent Argentine feature structure focused on character-driven comedy with regional co-production collaboration. The film follows a daughter who tries to help her parents become swingers, leading to an exploration of family boundaries and intimacy dynamics.

“The Infinite Night” (“La Noche Infinita”), Daniela Schneider, México

Developed by Mexico-based Cárcava Cine (“Lost in the Night,” Cannes 2024; “Robe of Gems,” Berlinale Jury Prize 2023; “The Untamed,” Venice Best Director 2018), in co-production with Peluca Films, Cárcava Cine and El Estudio, the project is in development and structured for international financing, with early discussions with French sales agent Luxbox. Produced by Daniela Maung, Fernanda de la Peza, Amat Escalante and Pablo Cruz, it is positioned within a festival-driven auteur slate. The film follows Bertha, a young mother whose family secret destabilizes her life as she becomes obsessed with a woman from a century earlier, where inherited memory, desire and domestic histories collapse across generations.

“The Other Side” (“Del otro lado”), José Luis Rugeles Gracia, Colombia, Brazil, France

Developed by Colombia-based Rhayuela Films, producers of “El Páramo,” “Alias María” and “Rebelión,” “The Other Side” is in development as a co-production with Capuri TV (Brazil) and Promenades (France). The project, starring Claudio Cataño (“One Hundred Years of Solitude”), reflects ongoing industry interest in character-driven Latin American–European collaborations. Drama follows Miguel, a doctor who loses his son and abandons his life, drifting through the streets where he forms fragile bonds with a street dog and a young sex worker. As Rugeles states, it explores “depression, addiction and solitude” shaped by “human fragility.”

“The Other Voice” (“La otra voz”), Agustina Pérez Rial, Argentina

Gaman Cine, founded by Nicolas Gil Lavedra, behind acclaimed titles “Eami” and “Ls83,” is finalizing development on the documentary, co-produced with Fiord Estudio and Lorolo. The film reconstructs the exile of iconic singer Mercedes Sosa between 1979 and 1982 through unpublished letters and archival material, reflecting a broader industry trend toward archive-driven music documentaries. As Pérez Rial explains, the project reveals “an intimate and little-known dimension… where Mercedes emerges through her own public and private words.” Gil Lavedra, Felicitas Raffo and Emiliano Torres produce.

“The Valley of the Echoes” (“El Valle de los Huesos”), Adán Ruiz, México

Travesía Cine, a Mexico City-based studio focused on auteur-driven cinema, is advancing the documentary in development with co-producer Avalancha Studio, while in discussions for Mexican distribution. Produced by Yuli Rodríguez and Ruiz, it’s set in an industrial town where multiple lives intersect around a skeleton built from found bones, reflecting systemic violence. As Ruiz states, it depicts violence as a social sickness embedded in everyday life. “Using scavenged bones as a narrative bridge, the film connects three fractured lives to reflect on the macabre intersection of industrial exploitation and necropolitics.”

“The Whisperer” (“La Susurradora”), Ale García & Carla Sierra, México

Developed by Mexico-based La Palma de Oro Films and La Vieja Rara, the project is in development. Produced by Antonio Urdapilleta and Valentina Vio and written by Ale García and Carla Sierra, the film follows Alba, who returns to Catemaco after the lynching of her husband and son, and summons La Susurradora, an ancient deity that grants her destructive power in exchange for bodily sacrifice. As she carries out her revenge, she becomes increasingly consumed by the force she invokes.

“Why Did You Come Back Every Summer” (“Por qué volvías cada verano”), Lorena Muñoz, Argentina

Developed by Argentina-based Mostra Cine alongside Cindy Teperman SRL and Atrece Creaciones, the project is in advanced development, positioning itself within a strong wave of Latin American films addressing institutional abuse and memory. Produced by Valeria Bistagnino, Tomás Eloy Muñoz Lázaro, Cindy Teperman, Delfina Montecchia and Ana Saura, it focuses on socially driven storytelling. Drama follows Lourdes, 20, who decides to report her uncle, a local police commissioner, for childhood sexual abuse during the summers she spent in his town.