Paulo Nascimento to Direct 'A Chocolate Christmas,' Shooting in Gramado and New York
Brazilian filmmaker Paulo Nascimento will direct "A Chocolate Christmas," a Portuguese-language romantic drama set against one of the most elaborate holiday festivals on the planet, with shoots planned in Gramado, Brazil and New York City. Variety reported the project on 15 August 2026.
Nascimento told the trade that he plans to announce the film at a panel on Sunday at the Gramado Film Festival, the prestigious Brazilian showcase held annually in the mountain town of Gramado, Rio Grande do Sul.
The story follows Linda, a 17-year-old who leaves her family in Gramado after a heartbreak to study in the United States. She returns to Brazil years later as a skilled chocolatier when her father suffers a heart attack, and reconnects with her former boyfriend along the way. Much of the action unfolds during Natal Luz de Gramado, a Christmas celebration recognised by Guinness World Records as the longest-running Christmas festival in the world.
The production structure spans two countries. Nascimento's own Accorde Filmes is producing alongside H2O Films, a leading independent distributor in Brazil, with co-production from Rose Pictures, a New York-based indie production company. H2O Films is set to open the film in Brazilian theatres during the 2027 Christmas season.
The shoot itself is built around the festival calendar. Nascimento said he will film for one week in New York City in December 2026, then move to Gramado for four weeks in January 2027, capturing exteriors set during Natal Luz de Gramado — meaning the cameras will roll just after the festival's peak season wraps.
Nascimento is not a first-timer. He told Variety he has directed 17 films, including the political drama "In Your Name," which won four Kikito prizes — the top awards at the Gramado Film Festival — in 2009. His credits also include "Westend of the World," a co-production with Argentina starring Cesar Troncoso. His most recent features are "13 Souls," a supernatural possession horror distributed online in the United Kingdom in May through Seven Tales and Trinity Content Partners, and "The Taxidermist," which remains unreleased.
What makes the project noteworthy is the route from festival panel to theatrical release. A Brazilian director unveiling a Portuguese-language holiday romance at Gramado, shooting across two countries, and landing a Christmas 2027 theatrical window through an independent distributor is a chain of decisions that links a local festival stage to screens more than a year away — the kind of path that determines which films reach audiences and which do not.
