The 28th Festival do Rio closed on Sunday 11 October 2026 with its Redentor trophy ceremony at the Cine Odeon in the Cinelândia district. Over eleven days the event screened 101 Brazilian features and shorts, 45 of them in official competition.
In Première Brasil, the main section, “A Margem do Rio” by Enock Carvalho and Matheus Farias collected five prizes: best fiction feature, cinematography, sound, a shared supporting actress award for Renna Costa, Artia and Ísis Broken, and the Felix prize for LGBTQIA+ cinema. Gabriel Martins won best director and best screenplay for “Vicentina Pede Desculpas”, which also took the fiction audience award. Eryk Rocha's “Elza”, about singer Elza Soares, was named best documentary.
The best actress prize was shared by Isabel Teixeira (“Diário do Fogo”) and Grace Passô (“A Professora de Francês”). Passô becomes the first woman to win this Redentor three times, after 2017 and 2023. Victor di Marco was named best actor for “LONDON”. The special jury prize went to “O Filho da Puta”, the first animated film to receive it.
The jury was chaired by Spain's Esther García, executive producer at El Deseo, Pedro Almodóvar's company. In the Novos Rumos section, Ulisses Arthur's “Não Estamos Sonhando” became the first feature from the state of Alagoas to compete and win at the festival.
