Fantastic:Brasil Gives Genre Cinema a New Launchpad in Rio
Horror, science fiction and fantasy have a new address in Rio.
Fantastic:Brasil debuted at the Rio Film Festival as an industry platform for genre cinema, the umbrella term for fantastic film, from horror and sci-fi to fantasy and the strange stuff in between, according to Variety. Its first edition runs Oct. 2-7 at Armazém da Utopia, home of RioMarket.
The platform is a partnership. It brings together the Fantastic Pavilion at Cannes, Rio Market, Festival do Rio, FICCI Industria, the #LINK Documentary Industry Meeting, Mórbido Film Fest and Sitges.
The idea is practical. Fantastic:Brasil was conceived for development, training, pitching and international circulation of fantastic film projects. In plain terms, it helps early-stage films get stronger, get seen and travel outside Brazil.
Its first edition is built around three calls. Each call took between four and six projects, with chosen teams joining a development lab and pitch sessions in Rio.
One strand is WomanInFan Brasil. It is the Brazilian edition of a Sitges Film Festival programme for fantastic genre projects directed by Brazilian women.
A second strand is Monstra – Fantastic Queer Lab. It is a call for queer fantastic genre projects from across Latin America, presented with Mórbido Film Fest and its #LGBTerror section.
The third is #LINK Vertical. It is dedicated to audiovisual works made natively for the vertical 9:16 format, the tall phone-screen shape, and to their production and international circulation.
In total, 22 projects were selected for the first edition, according to Revista de Cinema. The line-up was announced on Oct. 2, 2026.
For film-makers, the hook is what comes next. Selected projects may access presentation opportunities at the Fantastic Pavilion at the Marché du Film in Cannes, the film market attached to the Cannes festival, plus the Fantastic Embassy at Berlin’s European Film Market, FICCI in Cartagena de Indias and Mórbido Film Fest in Mexico City.
One name links several of those stops. Pablo Guisa Koestinger is founder of Mórbido Film Fest and executive director of the Fantastic Pavilion at the Marché du Film.
What makes this stand out is the route it draws. A project can start in a lab in Rio and land in front of buyers and festival programmers in Cannes, Berlin, Cartagena and Mexico City. For fans, this means the next wave of Latin American horror and fantasy will arrive better prepared, and with more miles behind it.
