Projeto Paradiso's Olga Rabinovich to Receive First Encounters Award in São Paulo

Philanthropist Olga Rabinovich will receive the inaugural Prêmio Encontros (Encounters Award) at this year's Encontro de Ideias Audiovisuais, the industry platform of the São Paulo International Film Festival. The festival will present the honor at the event's opening gala ceremony on Oct. 14, ahead of an in-conversation event with Neon president Jeff Deutchman.

The award recognizes the transformative role of private investment in culture and aims to bring private funders together with the creative professionals behind audiovisual productions.

"Olga Rabinovich is the first recipient of the newly created Prêmio Encontros, because she was the inspiration behind the award," said Renata de Almeida, director of the São Paulo International Film Festival. "I first heard Olga's name in early 2018, when Josephine Bourgois came to see me about someone from the private sector who wanted to create an institute dedicated to cinema. The Olga Rabinovich Institute was announced during the 42nd Mostra, bringing a breath of hope at a time that promised to be particularly difficult for Brazilian film and culture."

Born in São Paulo, Rabinovich spent years volunteering in hospitals, working closely with terminally ill patients. In 2018, she founded the Olga Rabinovich Institute and launched Projeto Paradiso soon after. The initiative grew out of her belief that "stories can change the world" and a decision to invest in the people who create them.

"Eight years later, Projeto Paradiso, an initiative of the Olga Rabinovich Institute, has already made a major contribution to discovering and championing a new generation of talent, strengthening Brazil's audiovisual sector as a whole," de Almeida continued. "Projeto Paradiso has an outstanding professional team, as its results clearly demonstrate. But the image that stays with me is of a meeting with Olga, climbing the winding stairs of our little building for a somewhat chaotic coffee in the festival's office. Because, in the end, almost everything really does begin with an encounter."

In an interview earlier this year, ahead of the third Projeto Paradiso National Network Meeting in Recife, Rabinovich said she "loved the idea of supporting cinema because I feel it is a magical art form." "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."

Projeto Paradiso supports Brazilian screen professionals through fellowships, residencies, workshops and other training and international reach initiatives. The Paradiso Talent Network now comprises 278 Brazilian professionals, including Anita Rocha da Silveira ("Medusa"), Juliana Rojas ("Good Manners") and Dira Paes ("Manas"). The organization also connects Brazilian talent and projects with the international industry through more than 250 partner institutions in Brazil and abroad, among them the Hubert Bals Fund, La Fabrique Cinéma de l'Institut français, TorinoFilmLab, Film Independent and the Sundance Institute.

The initiative recently backed festival titles including Allan Deberton's Berlinale-winning "Gugu's World" and Grace Passô's "Our Secret."

In 2025, Projeto Paradiso teamed with the Embratur Brazilian Tourism Board to launch Screen Brasil, announced at the Cannes Marché du Film in May. The program offers four Brazilian films a year across two calls, supporting their international distribution campaigns, with submissions made by the international sales agent holding the film's commercial rights. The latest call closed Oct. 2. Films backed to date include Gabriel Mascaro's "The Blue Trail," Rafaela Camelo's "The Nature of Invisible Things" and animated feature "Papaya."

Projeto Paradiso's relationship with the São Paulo festival dates to 2018, when the initiative launched during the festival's 42nd edition. Since 2023, it has presented the annual Paradiso Distribution Support Award, a grant for the theatrical release of a fiction feature. In 2024, Projeto Paradiso also helped drive a partnership with the Hubert Bals Fund that created HBF+Brazil, following initial discussions at Encontro de Ideias.

The 50th edition of the São Paulo International Film Festival runs Oct. 15-29, with Rabinovich's award setting the tone for an anniversary edition shaped in part by the private philanthropy her institute pioneered for Brazilian cinema.