Sao Paulo, Brazil – Expocine 2024, the largest and most important business gathering of the motion picture theater industry in Latin America, takes place in Sao Paulo from Oct. 8-11, as Brazil’s theatrical market slowly recovers from COVID-era slowdown and Hollywood double strikes.
After a decline during the pandemic, the total number of screens in Brazil is currently 3,530, slightly up from 3.507 at the end of 2019. The country’s B.O. is also gradually recovering but has still not reached pre-pandemic levels due mainly to the lack of U.S. films, a consequence of the Hollywood double strike.
“Brazilian exhibitors are resilient,” Lucio Otoni, president of the Federation of Exhibitors in Brazil (FENEEC), told Variety. “We have reasons to believe that 2025 and 2026 will be better, not only because we will have a stronger lineup of films but also because the Brazilian economy is improving.”
Reflecting the market recovery, Expocine 2024, now on its 11th edition, is expected to at least equal the record attendance of 2,700 in 2019, said Marcelo Lima, CEO of Tonks, Expocine’s organizer.
About 70% of the participants at Expocine traditionally work in the exhibition and distribution sectors. The remaining 30% are film producers, theater equipment and concessions manufacturers and service providers, he elaborated.
Most participants are Brazilians from different parts of the country, but there is a concentration of attendees from Sao Paulo, where the majority of the largest distributors and exhibitors are headquartered.
“Expocine also counts on a strong presence of industry executives from other South American countries, particularly from Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay,” said Lima. “With the unfavorable exchange rate and the proximity, they tend to choose Expocine over similar industry events on other continents.”
Expocine 2024 will be held in two venues 150 meters away from each other near Paulista Avenue, the landmark Renaissance Hotel and multiplex Cine Marquise.
The event’s lineup includes panels, workshops, presentations and screenings by distributors to exhibitors, as well as a trade fair.
This year’s Expocine 2024 and its opening panel share the theme, “Connecting the cinema to the future.” Key speakers include Lima; Hernán Viviano, VP Latam, Warner and Universal; Iafa Britz, director of production company Migdal Filmes; Marcio Fraccaroli, general director of distributor and production company Paris Filmes; and Marcos Barros, president of exhibitor Cinesystem.
Marcio Fraccaroli
Credit: Lucas Ramos
Other panels will discuss issues, such as international coproductions, how to attract a new generation to the cinemas, 10 years of the Brazilian exhibition circuit digitalization, biopics, the tradeoff of purchasing vs. renting projectors, the popularity of true crime, the social media impact on theatrical attendance and the profile of moviegoers.
Workshops will explore the impacts AI and Brazil’s new tax system, which will be introduced over the coming years, will have on the industry.
This year’s trade fair, with booths for theater equipment, concessions manufacturers and service providers, has been expanded and will occupy two floors of the Renaissance Hotel.
For distributors, the presentations and screenings in Cine Marquise’s theaters seem to be the event’s highlight.
Igor Kupstas, director of O2 Play, the distribution arm of O2, one of the largest production companies in Brazil, will present Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” which the company will release in Brazil on Oct. 31.
“Distribution is about seducing the exhibitors, making them believe in my film. Then, I have a presentation to all exhibitors in the country some 20 days before the release date,” Kupstas told Variety. “I’m competing with other distributors. Maybe the exhibitor already has five, six films in mind for that date. The presentation is my chance to convince them, to make them think about my film.”
“All exhibitors are there, so we seize the opportunity to show them the films we have for the next six months,” said Marcio Fraccaroli of Paris Filmes. “Our presentations of Brazilian films are made by directors, actors and screenwriters, who are the best to talk about their films.”
Lucio Otoni stresses the importance of Expocine for small and medium-sized exhibitors. According to him, Brazil has one of the least concentrated theatrical markets in the world. The big players, Cinemark, Cinepolis, Kinoplex, Araujo and UCI, shared 59% of the total 118 million ticket sales, 65% of the 2.3 billion reais ($474 million) B.O. and 46% of the screens in the country in 2023. About 100 smaller exhibitors, many of them family-owned companies with a few screens, account for the rest of the market.
“Expocine allows these small players access to information about the upcoming films, on a par with the big exhibitors. Additionally, they attend the Expocine trade fair, where they can find everything they need in terms of equipment and services. All suppliers are there,” he said.
