Jorge Peregrino The shock of reality

Is the Brazilian film market different from other countries’? The current structure of cinema audiences is a result of the system of distribution set by influential American companies in the 60s and 70s. This is why in Latin America, just like anywhere else, US-produced films are by far highest grossing. I would say that, generally speaking, they represent 80%-85% of the Brazilian market. However, this changes year on year: the market is always product-driven. If you offer a product the audience like, they will hold out for it. But there is no formula for that. I wish I had the formula. I would be a millionaire.

Don’t you have the impression that American blockbusters threaten art film? It does not really matter whether you make a low-budget art film or a blockbuster. The point is that you find its niche, because each genre has its own circle of spectators. So I do not think blockbusters are harmful to art films: they have simply very different niches. Paramount also distributes hundreds of movies on DVD every year. Has this market seen some significant development in the recent period? There has been, actually, a 25% drop in DVD sales in Brazil over the last year. One reason is piracy, still more and more widespread, and another is a kind of economic bubble that started growing in Brazil around five years ago, when the lowest classes managed to get on a higher social level. Only in 2007, 8 million DVD players were sold in Brazil and the DVD sales naturally increased as well. But after some time, people stopped buying everything they saw, which is something I call “the shock of reality”. Needless to say, the downturn in DVD sales also affects production, because the film production funding in Brazil is based on tax breaks. Distribution and production companies can choose to direct up to 70% of their income tax to finance local filmmaking. So logically, if sales fall by 25%, funding falls by 25% as well.

Do you think cinema is deep-rooted in Brazil? Definitely. However, the country’s biggest problem is an extremely small infrastructure. There are around 190 million inhabitants but only 2,000 screens, whereas in Mexico, for instance, a country with little more than 100 million people, there are as many as 4,500 screens operating. I do hope this will change in the next few years. It’s essential.

Dominika Uhrikova