Curta Cinema

Each year comes the necessity of rethinking the few words that introduce the Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival – Curta Cinema, which is entering its 24th year. The inventiveness of the short film format is always at the forefront of all the work we do. It is out of the necessity to highlight this creativity that, year after year, the discourse is reformulated and seen from a new perspective. The strength of this format is not in its commercial or marketing aspects, but in its capacity to produce constant renovation in the media and the language it uses. It is a natural place for new filmmakers, but it is not limited merely to being a gateway to the universe of commercial cinema. It is above all a universe of unique characteristics which make it independent and autonomous in relation to other models of audiovisual production.

These characteristics take in a wide range of profiles, styles and approaches. There is no other form of production that gives so much freedom to its authors. Here, many identify their limits and desires; they can set rules of an experimental character, they can make mistakes to use the very mistake to create something unusual. Some produce films in a solitary manner, using only a computer; others mobilize teams and rehearse actors. From the most abstract to a most classical dramaturgical approach: a radical multiplicity of proposals is the very spirit of the short film marketplace.

What keeps us going with the Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival – Curta Cinema over the years is precisely the certainty that this creative force is fundamental for the revitalization of audiovisual production as a whole, be it for cinema, TV or any other format. At our side are institutions that recognize this importance, such as Petrobras, one of the principal agents for fostering appreciation and sponsoring culture in Brazil and which for 18 years has supported us in putting on this Festival.

We know that we are on the right track when, after 10 years of supporting us in promotion and publicity, Globo Filmes joins the Festival as one of its main backers. The importance of this new partnership goes beyond sponsorship: it opens new horizons for the format, it widens and diversifies the audience, and more importantly, it recognizes the creative strength of short films as one of the most important in the audiovisual sector in Brazil.

We wish to recognize the sponsorship of Grupo Contax via Oi Futuro, and of RioFilme, which has been a fundamental part of the structuring and making of this festival. And we cannot forget to note so many other supporters and enthusiasts of this project, domestic and foreign institutions and individuals who are the moving force of our ambitions and give us the strength to carry on holding this important display in Rio for short films from all over the world.