Sunny Side news: Brazil puts extra $40m on the table for docs

Brazil’s recently launched public broadcaster TV Brasil and the state-run financing entity Ancine have launched a $40 million Images of Brazil fund for producers making programmes about the country.

The fund was announced at the Sunny Side of the Doc festival in La Rochelle, France. It is primarily for local indie producers but the broadcaster and Ancine are keen that international companies get involved by way of coproduction deals.

TV Brasil launched eight months ago and is being billed as a ‘Brazilian Channel 4′ in that almost all of its programming will be commissioned from independent producers. It is one of two public broadcasters in Brazil, alongside TV Cultura.

Ancine, the Brazilian Development Bank and the public broadcasters are all pushing Brazilian media this year and want international companies involved.

"We would like to say improving the level of coproduction is a goal, it’s very important for the government," Ancine director Sergio Sa Leitao said at Sunny Side. You [international producers] have to approach Brazilian production companies and reach an agreement in order to access that [funding]."

The overall amount available to promote the Brazilian media industry is nearer $250 million through a mixture of direct funding and other financial mechanisms including a new $30 million government run Audiovisual fund, created last August, that is financed by a tax on all audiovisual activity in the country.