Among more than 370 titles, features from the main international festivals are included in the program.
One of the most prolific times of the year for those who love cinema has finally arrived: the double of the Rio Festival and the International Film Festival in São Paulo. After O Olhar de Cinema, Gramado Festival, Kinoforum, Brasília Festival, among many other events that permeated the country over the last few months, the agenda intensifies in October.
Scheduled to start in a few days, the 49th International Film Festival in São Paulo will show, including features, shorts and series, 373 titles from 80 countries in 52 cinemas, cultural spaces and CEUs spread across the capital of São Paulo. Here, you will find the main information about the unmissable event on any film buff's calendar.
São Paulo International Film Festival
The 49th International Film Festival in São Paulo takes place between the 16th and 30th of October. The opening took place on Wednesday, October 15th, at Sala São Paulo, with the screening of the feature film Sirât, by Oliver Laxewinner of the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival — actresses Stefania Gadda and Jade Oukid, who work in the production, will be in the special session.
In the plot, a father (Sergi López) and his son (Bruno Núñez) travel to Morocco looking for a rave in the middle of the arid desert mountains. The duo is searching for their daughter and sister Marina who disappeared months ago at another of these grand and excessive parties.
Driven by hope and destiny, the two decide to follow a group that is looking for one last party that will take place in the middle of the desert. There they hope to find the young woman.
Cannes winners and Brazil's representative at the 2026 Oscars are on the schedule
Showcase Films
In addition to the unmissable opening feature, which will have other sessions throughout the event, the 2025 Exhibition has The Secret Agent as one of the main highlights. Chosen to represent Brazil in the race for the 2026 Oscar, the film starring Wagner Moura directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho left Cannes with the awards for Best Director and Best Actor. With 98% approval on the Rotten Tomatoesthe project has appeared in good positions on national and international lists of the season's main honors.
Following the Brazilian works present in the edition, the selection will also feature The Nature of Invisible Things (Rafaela Camelo), Ruas da Glória (Felipe Sholl), Amora (Ana Petta), Cadernos Negros (Joel Zito Araújo), Nosferatu (Cristiano Burlan), Virtuosas (Cíntia Domit Bittar), among others.
“It scares me": In front of The Secret Agent, Wagner Moura speaks bluntly about the political importance of the film
Among the international projects included in the program are Frankenstein (Guillermo del Toro), Nouvelle Vague (Richard Linklater), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Bill Condon), No Other Choice (Park Chan-wook), Bugonia (Yorgos Lanthimos), The History of Sound (Oliver Hermanus), Sorry, Baby (Eva Victor), Palestine 36 (Annemarie Jacir) and It Was Just an Accident, winner of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, by Jafar Panahi.
The complete program, list of favorites and purchase of tickets are available on the Exhibition app, which can be downloaded from October 10th on cell phones with Android operating systems, via Google Play, and iOS, via the App Store. The program also allows the creation of an agenda with dates and times of the chosen titles and, for accredited candidates, it is possible to reserve tickets. The Exhibition also uses the MLoad application to provide accessibility resources for a selection of films from the selection.
Tickets will be available for purchase 4 days before each session via the event app and the Velox website, always starting at 9am. On the day of the session, a small quota will be available for purchase directly at the cinema box office:
*Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: R$ 26.00 (full) | R$ 13.00 (half)
*Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays: R$ 32.00 (full price) | R$ 16.00 (half)
São Paulo International Film Festival
2nd SHOW: Sessions at the Spcine circuit addresses (26 CEUs, Centro Cultural São Paulo, Centro Cultural Olido, Biblioteca Roberto Santos) and at Sala Petrobras na Mostra are free. Screenings at Cinesala, CineSesc and Espaço Petrobras de Cinema are paid, with prices of R$ 32.00 (full) and R$ 16.00 (half). At CineSesc, children under 12 enter for free.
CIRCUIT WITH POPULAR PRICES: Spcine Circuit: CCSP - São Paulo Cultural Center (Lima Barreto and Paulo Emílio rooms), Olido Cultural Center and Roberto Santos Library: R$ 4.00 and R$ 2.00.
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A new feature for the new edition is the agility in the virtual purchase of tickets. According to the Exhibition organization, the contracted company implemented improvements in the ticket purchasing process. Now, the Velox system will make an immediate reservation the moment the customer selects the ticket, before even entering the payment section, ensuring that the platform validates availability right from the start.
If there are no more vacancies, the customer will be informed immediately, without having to go through the entire process. Thus, the session is automatically blocked for new attempts when it reaches capacity.
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