{"id":5122,"date":"2026-07-29T13:42:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:42:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5122"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:42:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:42:21","slug":"brazilian-erotic-thriller-the-riverbank-boarded-by-premium-films-mpm-premium-ahead-of-locarno-competition-premiere-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5122","title":{"rendered":"Brazilian Erotic Thriller \u2018The Riverbank\u2019 Boarded by Premium Films, MPM Premium Ahead of Locarno Competition Premiere (EXCLUSIVE)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tParis-based Premium Films, together with its feature film sales division MPM Premium, has acquired international sales rights to Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho\u2019s \u201cThe Riverbank\u201d (\u201cA Margem do Rio\u201d).<\/p>\n

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\n\tThe atmospheric erotic thriller will world premiere in the prestigious international competition at the upcoming Locarno Film Festival, taking place in Switzerland over August 5-15.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe duo\u2019s feature debut comes five years after their short film \u201cInabit\u00e1vel\u201d made waves at the Sundance Film Festival and a year after Kleber Mendon\u00e7a Filho\u2019s \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d catapulted the filmmakers\u2019 home and hub of Recife into a major international platform. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe film also consecrated Farias as one of the country\u2019s most renowned editors, with his winning a Platino Award for his work on the Oscar-nominated picture. \u201cThe Riverbank\u201d features several \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d actors, including Rob\u00e9rio Di\u00f3genes, Kaiony Ven\u00e2ncio and Carlos Francisco.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSet in Recife, it follows young cleaner Izaquiel (Caique Copque), whose nightly search for intimacy leads him to magnetic fisherman Jeremias (\u00cdtalo Martins). As violence closes in, both embark on a journey into the depths of the mangroves, where reality and myth intertwine, exposing the invisible structures of power that govern their world.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe were immediately captivated by the way the characters\u2019 stories intertwine within the wild, nocturnal world of Recife\u2019s mangrove forest,\u201d said Jean-Charles Mille, general manager of Premium Films & MPM Premium. \u201cPredator and prey, desire and danger, the unconscious and class politics become inseparable in a thriller charged with erotic tension and simmering suspense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe exec added that what \u201cimpressed\u201d his team the most \u201cis how Matheus and Enock transform genre into a powerful cinematic language.\u201d \u201c\u2018The Riverbank\u2019 moves effortlessly between mystery, sensuality and tropical magical realism while confronting systems of domination, abuse of power and ideological control with remarkable emotional depth. It is a bold work of auteur cinema that remains gripping from beginning to end, and we believe its singular artistic voice will resonate with audiences well beyond the traditional boundaries of genre or queer cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked by Variety <\/em>about the film\u2019s refined balance of genres \u2014 the story traverses the classic erotic thriller to experiment with the tropical noir, crime drama, magical realism and even a hint of whodunnit \u2014\u00a0 Farias said he and Carvalho have been professional and life partners for 13 years, so they have a \u201cunified vision of what cinema can be.\u201d \u201cThe elements of genre cinema were already present in our early films, the shorts, but it was never something we approached in a particularly calculated way. The tone of our stories is directly connected to what is unfolding within them.\u201d Faria added Mati Diop\u2019s \u201cAtlantics\u201d and Ali Abbasi\u2019s \u201cBorder\u201d as tonal and visual references.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cIn \u2018The Riverbank,\u2019 this comes from the experience of the protagonist Izaquiel,\u201d adds Carvalho. \u201cThere is the reality of life, of the real places, of the routine of work, but there is also the space of myth and non-realism. In between all that, the story comes in desire and danger, and that\u2019s where the thriller, crime and eroticism emerge. In the film, desire, fear and enchantment are always very close to one another. It all comes naturally, such as the mangrove forest. It is something we are used to seeing every day in our city, something that is part of the territory itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Riverbank\u201d paints a sharp criticism of the complex, often corrupt, ties between evangelical churches and politics in Brazil. As the country gears up for a tense presidential election this coming October, how vital did it feel for the filmmakers to broach the issue onscreen?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe recently lived through some very difficult years in Brazil because of the movement known as \u2018Bolsonarismo,\u2019\u201d says Faria, referring to the right-leaning political and ideological movement centered around former president Jair Bolsonaro. \u201cWe watched an extremist political project take shape, bringing together authoritarian ideas, the overt persecution of minorities and artists and a highly pro-gun campaign. The country\u2019s largest evangelical churches and religious leaders played a major role in all of this, so for us as gay men, those were years marked by great fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFarias also notes a personal connection, mentioning he spent two decades within an evangelical church. \u201cIt was like watching a worldview I had once helped sustain become the political project of an entire country. The problem was that, by the time this happened, I was already on the other side of that history, suffering the consequences of those very same ideas. When you leave an institution that has shaped the way you think about your body and your relationship to desire, those marks do not simply disappear. I think the film also comes from that wound.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking about the impact of \u201cThe Secret Agent\u201d on the film scene in Recife, and the visibility its success gave northeastern stories, Faria says it was \u201cincredible\u201d to watch the film\u2019s broad reach. \u201cI think it has sparked greater curiosity about other films being made in Recife and across Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt opens doors, creates new conversations and allows local professionals and projects to be seen by people who might not have been looking in our direction before,\u201d he adds. \u201cI think \u2018The Riverbank\u2019 is also arriving in Locarno at a moment of heightened attention around Brazilian cinema. But it is important to say that this did not begin with a single film. Recife has a very strong cinematic tradition built over many decades.\u201d Earlier this year, Variety <\/em>published an in-depth report on the history of filmmaking in the region and how the capital became a booming production and creative hub.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Riverbank\u201d is a Brazilian-German co-production produced by Gatopardo Filmes, Mo\u00e7ambique Audiovisual, Vitrine Filmes, and Tama Filmproduktion. The film is supported by Projeto Paradiso, the World Cinema Fund, the Hubert Bals Fund, Ancine and Funcultura Audiovisual.<\/p>\n

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Premium Films and MPM Premium board Matheus Farias and Enock Carvalho\u2019s highly anticipated feature debut ‘The Riverbank’ ahead of Locarno premiere<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,1508,4069],"class_list":["post-5122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-brazil","tag-locarno-film-festival","tag-mpm-premium-2"],"yoast_head":"\nBrazilian Erotic Thriller \u2018The Riverbank\u2019 Boarded by Premium Films, MPM Premium Ahead of Locarno Competition Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5122\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brazilian Erotic Thriller \u2018The Riverbank\u2019 Boarded by Premium Films, MPM Premium Ahead of Locarno Competition Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) - 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