September 2011: The story behind the botched attempt by French forces led by Admiral Villegagnon to conquer Guanabara Bay is now the subject of a TV series being shot in Paraty, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, since the end of September. Vermelho Brasil is an adaptaion of award-winning best-seller Rouge Brésil and one of the biggest international made-for-TV co-productions ever attempted in Brazil.

With an estimated budget of R$ 20 million, the series is the result of a partnership struck between Brazilian production company Conspiração Filmes, Globo Filmes, RioFilme (the production and distribution arm of Rio’s City Hall), and French companies Pampa Films and France 2. BNDES supports the production through its incentives program.

The production also has official support from Filme Rio-Rio Film Commission (FRRFC), an entity created two years ago through a partnership between Rio’s City Hall and the state government. The commission aims at promoting both the city and the state as a destination for audiovisual production and offers support to producers in terms of bureaucracy, infrastructure and logistics.

“On behalf of the FR-RFC we are especially pleased to support the Vermelho Brasil project, not only because it depicts such an important French literary work, but also because it highlights the natural environment of the State of Rio de Janeiro with the shooting which is taking place near Paraty”, says FRRFC president Steve Solot.” It is also the most important co-production between Brasil and France to use the official bilateral co-production treaty between the two countries, which was renewed in May 2010”, he points out.

Conspiração Filmes’s Managing Partner, Luiz Noronha, highlights the FRRFC’s role as a production facilitator in the making of Vermelho Brasil – in particular, interfacing with government agencies. “The logistical support gas been great, it has really helped us a lot”, says Noronha, for whom the work done by the commission has been more and more relevant for producers. “It’s important to have an active film commission”, he adds, before mentioning the positive current times in the city and the state. “Rio is attracting the world’s attention, in terms of offering better safety, with more investments in infrastructure and big events happening here – all of which, consequently, also grabs the attention of the world film community”, argues the Conspiração manager.

Canadian director Sylvain Archambaut helms Vermelho Brasil. The cast includes Brazilian and Canadian actors. Among them, Stellan Skasgaard, seen in Pirates of The Caribean, who plays the protagonist, Villegagnon. Joaquim de Almeida (Fast 5) plays the villain. According to Conspiração, the two ninety-minute episode series will be shown in France. However, in Brazil it will air as a five-episode miniseries and will have a theatrical version as well.

Director Archambault: "This production is an epic about a clash of cultures. It can show us the difficulty that the contemporary world has to look back and learn from the massacres that marked its history I'm a fan of "City of God", which also showed how many dead made the history of that locality. I want to portray the rise of Brazil with a contemporary narrative, no strings attached to the classical language."

Filming will take place for a total of eight weeks with locations also in Trinity Beach, in Xerém and Barra de Guaratiba.

IMAGES