As Brlab prepares to mark its 15th anniversary in 2025, one of the development labs for Latin America’s most influential film projects announced a series of bold changes aimed at expanding its international reach, enhancing its programming and deepening support for emerging filmmakers.
Brlab founder and director Rafael Sampaio meets type Four key updates were discussed in Cannes that reflect the platform’s growing role as a creative hub and are also a strategic launch pad for cinemas from Brazil, Latin America and the wider Ibero-American region.
Founded in 2011, Brlab has grown into a crucial force in the development of independent cinemas, providing workshops, laboratories and guidance for projects from 15 countries. With the support of organizations such as Programa Ibermedia, Projeto Paradiso and Spine, Petrobras, now a multi-year sponsor, receives more than 400 submissions each year, carefully planned by the Professional Selection Committee.
As a result, he talked to himself. As of 2025, 62 feature films that participated in BrLab's various sections have been produced and released, with 17 more currently in post-production and another 10 funded for production through 2026. By next year, the number of completed projects linked to BrLab is expected to reach nearly 90. Many of these films have gone on to premiere at prestigious international festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, San Sebastián and Locarno.
Recent prominent figures include "The Mysterious Eye of the Flamingo", which is part of the 2025 UN UN; "Levante" by Lila Halla (Brazil), which is screened in semi-criticism in 2023; "Légua" by Filipa Reis and João Guerra (Portugal), which took place two weeks of the same year in the two weeks of the director; "Los tiburones" by Lucía Garibaldi (Uruguay), which premiered in Sundance; "Las Eredras by Marcelo Martinessi (Paraguay) Herederas, bowing in Berlinale; and Laura Mora (Colombia)’s “Los Reyes del Mundo”, the 2022 champion of San Sebasti de Oro. "The Wolf of Fernando Coimbra" was later selected as Toronto and San Sebastián in the 2011 Brlab's very first edition.
Now, as the future goes, BRLAB is implementing four major changes that are expected to further strengthen its influence.
New Date: Moving to April
Starting in 2025, Brlab will move from its traditional October slot to a new window for the first half of the year. The 15th edition is scheduled to be held from April 7 to 13, 2025. The move avoids competition with the saturated holiday calendar and provides more time for participating projects to debut later this year. According to Sampaio, timing also increased the value of Brlab’s rough shear lab, making it a more effective middle-aged intervention.
“This change brings a more useful rhythm to project development,” he said. “We want our selected teams to make the most of the international tour and April can do that well.”
Brlab Copro: A new joint production forum
BRLAB also launched Brlab Copro, a well-curated co-production forum designed to catalyze new international partnerships. The platform will bring together producers and projects interested in co-producing with Brazil and other Latin American territories in response to the increasingly important regional landscape of cross-border collaboration for financing and distribution.
This new space marks the role of Brlab as a connector, not only as a talent but also the importance of institutions and industries that can bring movies to life.
Audience design seminars are conducted in regional
Since 2017, BRLAB's Audience Design Symposium has provided Brazilian film producers with professional training on how to identify, understand and achieve their target audience. In 2025, the seminar will be expanded to include participants from Latin America, Portugal and Spain, and a new regional dialogue is launched around the challenges of distribution and audience participation.
"The idea is to strengthen regional circulation and build sustainable connections," Sanpao said. He himself first encountered the audience design approach through Torinofilmlab. "Recently, movies from one Latin American country don't even attract the next audience. We hope to help change that."
Strengthen institutional support and regional cooperation
Through strong institutional support, the evolution of BRLAB becomes possible. Long-standing supporters such as Programa Ibedia, Projeto Paradiso and Spcine have joined Petrobras and are now supporting the lab with years of sponsorship. This growing alliance reflects the importance of Brlab as a development engine, not only for Brazilian cinemas, but also for the wider Iberian-American creative ecosystem.
With nearly 90 movies supported in 2026 and an increasing number of international honors, Brlab is both a model and a catalyst for regional cinemas. When it begins the 15th edition, the lab is reaffirming its core mission: empowering emerging voices, fostering meaningful collaborations and helping shape the future of global cinema, one project at a time.