Overview
Cine PE - Festival do Audiovisual is one of the most traditional film festivals in Brazil and the most important regional festival outside Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. The 30th edition runs June 1 to 7, 2026, in Recife, the capital of Pernambuco state in northeastern Brazil. The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Google, the Government of Pernambuco, the City of Recife, and Itau.
The festival focuses on Brazilian cinema across three competitive shows: Mostra de Curtas Pernambucanos (Pernambuco shorts), Mostra de Curtas Nacionais (national shorts), and Mostra de Longas Brasileiros (Brazilian features). It accepts Brazilian productions and international co-productions, provided they meet the digital exhibition requirements. The festival programs fiction, animation, and documentary across all shows.
By 2020, after 24 editions, Cine PE had accumulated an audience of 404,700 people, 686 hours of film exhibition, and more than 7,000 submitted films. The festival is directed and was founded by Alfredo Bertini, an economist and cultural producer from Pernambuco who served as Secretary of Audiovisual in the Brazilian government. Bertini died shortly before the 30th edition in 2026, and the festival's leadership is transitioning to Sandra Bertini and Vitor Bertini.
The festival also runs TELA, a seminar and market program that connects the festival to industry discussions. TELA 2025 was postponed to coincide with the 30th anniversary edition in 2026, expanding its scope as part of the anniversary celebrations.
Submission Details
Submissions are made through the festival website.
2026 Festival Submission Deadlines:
- Submissions open: November 17, 2025
- Submission deadline: December 31, 2025 (23:55 local time)
- Selection process: January and February 2026
- Festival dates: June 1 to 7, 2026
Submission Fees:
Submissions are free (no entry fee charged for any competitive show).
Eligibility:
- Brazilian productions or international co-productions
- Shorts: maximum 22 minutes (including credits)
- Features: minimum 70 minutes
- Categories: fiction, animation, documentary
- Digital exhibition format required
- Films must be submitted via private online link (Vimeo or equivalent) with password if applicable
- The registration form must be filled out, printed, signed, scanned, and emailed to the festival (iris@bpe.com.br and sandra@bpe.com.br) along with the film link
Accessibility Requirements:
All selected films (shorts and features) must present:
- Descriptive subtitles in Portuguese for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers
- Audio description
These requirements follow Instrução Normativa 116/2014 of Ancine, the Lei Brasileira de Inclusao (Law 13.146/2015), and guidelines from the Ministerio Publico of Pernambuco for audiovisual events in the state. Non-compliant films will not be exhibited.
Exhibition Format:
Selected films must be delivered as DCP without KDM or as ProRes HQ 422 file, following the festival's technical specifications. Exhibition tests are conducted in Recife and require the presence of a representative for each film.
Key Sections
Competitive Shows:
- Mostra de Curtas Pernambucanos - short films from Pernambuco state, selected by a specialized curatorial team. Up to three Pernambucan shorts may be included in the national show as well.
- Mostra de Curtas Nacionais - short films from across Brazil
- Mostra de Longas Brasileiros - Brazilian feature films, selected through a combination of curatorial choice and direct invitation
Industry Programs:
- TELA - seminar and market program, postponed from 2025 to the 30th anniversary edition in 2026. TELA includes project registration for selection and market activities. Subscriptions for TELA remain open until further notice via the festival website.
The curatorial process evaluates films based on technical and artistic quality, the trajectory of the production company or director, premiere status, and alignment with the festival audience profile. For feature films, the festival uses both direct selection and invitation, considering programming diversity and audience preference trends identified through opinion research commissioned by the festival.
What Filmmakers Should Know
The free submission policy and the festival's focus on Brazilian cinema make Cine PE an accessible target for Brazilian filmmakers at all budget levels. The absence of an entry fee removes the financial calculation that gates many festival submissions, and the festival's regional identity means that northeastern Brazilian filmmakers in particular find a receptive audience and programming context.
The accessibility requirements are mandatory and enforced by law. Filmmakers who do not have descriptive subtitles (LSE) and audio description prepared at the time of selection will need to produce them before the festival. This is a real cost consideration: producing LSE and audio description for a short film can range from R$500 to R$2,000 depending on length and provider, and for features the cost is higher. Factor this into your post-production budget if you plan to submit to Cine PE or other Brazilian festivals subject to the same legal requirements.
The requirement that a representative attend the exhibition test in Recife is a logistical and cost consideration. For filmmakers based outside northeastern Brazil, this means travel to Recife for the technical test. Check with the festival whether remote representation or a local proxy is acceptable for the technical test stage.
The 22-minute maximum for shorts (including credits) is shorter than the 30-minute or 40-minute limits common at international festivals. Filmmakers should verify their film's total running time including all credits before submitting. Films exceeding 22 minutes will not be eligible for the short film competitive shows.
The TELA market program provides a platform for project development and industry networking. Filmmakers with projects in development (not just completed films) can submit to TELA for potential inclusion in the market activities. The postponement of TELA from 2025 to the 30th anniversary edition in 2026 means the market program will be larger and more integrated into the anniversary celebrations.
Major Awards
The festival awards the Trofeu Calunga across all competitive shows. The Calunga represents a doll carried by a priestess in Afro-Brazilian Maracatu religious ceremonies, where it receives the name of a princess and represents a divinity expressing force and protection. Since 2020, the trophy has been called the Calunga de Ouro and is a creation of visual artist Juliana Notari. The Calunga is exclusive to Cine PE and is the festival's highest honor.
Award Categories (per competitive show):
- Best Film
- Best Director
- Best Screenplay
- Best Cinematography
- Best Editing
- Best Sound Editing
- Best Art Direction
- Best Score
- Best Actor
- Best Actress
- Best Supporting Actor
- Best Supporting Actress
- Audience Award (Prêmio Especial do Público)
- Critics Award (Prêmio da Crítica, selected by Abraccine - Brazilian Association of Film Critics)
- Calunga Dourada (Golden Calunga) - honorary award for career achievement or institutional contribution
2026 Edition (30th) Winners:
- Best Feature Film: Resta Um by Fernando Ceylao (Goias/Rio de Janeiro) - also won Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Italo Martins), and Best Supporting Actress (Perla Carvalho)
- Best Director (Feature): Eliza Capai for A Fabulosa Maquina do Tempo (Rio de Janeiro) - also won Best Score and Best Actress (collective of child actors), plus the Abraccine Critics Award for Best Feature
- Audience Award (Feature): Mapas by Rafael Lobo (Distrito Federal) - also won Best Actor (Caique Copque), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound Editing
- Best National Short: Os Arcos Dourados de Olinda by Douglas Henrique (Pernambuco) - also won Best Screenplay and Best Editing
- Best Pernambucan Short: Os Ursos e Nos by Maria Acselrad (Pernambuco) - also won Best Director, Best Sound Editing, Best Score, and Audience Award
- Calunga Dourada (Honorary): Gullane Entretenimento, recognized for their contribution to Brazilian audiovisual production
2025 Edition (29th) Winners:
- Best Feature Film: The Best Mother in the World - also won Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Supporting Actress
Festival History
Cine PE was founded in 1997 by Alfredo Bertini, an economist and cultural producer from Pernambuco who later served as Secretary of Audiovisual in the Brazilian federal government under President Michel Temer. The festival was established to provide a national platform for Brazilian cinema with a regional base in the culturally distinctive Northeast, a region with deep Afro-Brazilian traditions (frevo, maracatu), colonial heritage, and a growing independent film community.
The festival returned to Cinema Sao Luiz in Recife in 2015 for its 19th edition, after periods at other venues. Cinema Sao Luiz is one of the oldest operating cinemas in Brazil and a historic cultural venue in Recife's downtown.
The 2020 edition adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic with drive-in screenings, maintaining the festival's continuity through the global crisis. The Calunga de Ouro trophy was introduced in 2020, redesigned by artist Juliana Notari.
The 30th edition in 2026 occurred under difficult circumstances: founder and director Alfredo Bertini died just before the festival, and the event became a moment of recognition for his three-decade contribution to Brazilian cinema. Leadership is transitioning to Sandra Bertini and Vitor Bertini. The TELA market program, postponed from 2025, was integrated into the anniversary edition, making the 30th edition a combined celebration of the festival's history and a look toward its future under new leadership.
Over 30 editions, Cine PE has established itself as one of the most popular film festivals in Brazil, with a cumulative audience exceeding 400,000 and more than 7,000 films submitted throughout its history. The festival has maintained its focus on Brazilian cinema while providing a platform specifically for northeastern Brazilian filmmakers, whose work often differs in aesthetic and thematic focus from the cultural production centers of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Past Winners
The 2026 and 2025 winners are listed above in the Major Awards section. Here are the preceding editions:
2024 Edition (28th) Winners:
- Best Feature Film: Memorias de um Esclerosado by Thais Fernandes and Rafael Correa (Rio Grande do Sul) - a documentary about a cartoonist diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, blending documentary footage with animation. The film also won the Audience Award (with 67% of the public vote), Best Supporting Actor (Rafael Correa), Best Screenplay, and Best Score.
- Best Director (Feature): Carolina Vilela and Rodrigo Hinrichsen for Invisivel (Rio de Janeiro) - also won Best Editing and the Abraccine Critics Award for Best Feature
- Best Actor: Alexandre Guimaraes for No Caminho Encontrei o Vento (Pernambuco)
- Best Actress: Marcia de Oliveira for Cordel do Amor Sem Fim (Sao Paulo)
- Best National Short: Hoje Eu So Volto Amanha (Pernambuco) - a 12-minute animation about a young woman experiencing carnival in Olinda, also won the Audience Award for best short
2023 Edition (27th) Winners:
- Best Feature Film: Porto Principe by Maria Emilia de Azevedo - also won Best Actor (Diderot Senat)
- Best Director (Feature): Guto Pasko for Entrelinhas - the film won 5 Calungas total, including Best Actress (Gabriela Freire) and Best Art Direction
- Audience Award (Feature): Agreste by Newton Moreno and Marcus Aurelius Pimenta - won 4 Calungas including Best Supporting Actor (Roberto Rezende), Best Supporting Actress (Luci Pereira), Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay
- Best First Feature (honorable mention): Ijo Dudu: Memorias da Danca Negra na Bahia
Notable Alumni
Cine PE has served as an early platform for Brazilian filmmakers and productions that went on to broader national and international recognition:
- Baile Perfumado (1997) - directed by Lirio Ferreira and Marcelo Gomes, screened at the first Cine PE edition. The film helped reestablish Pernambuco as a feature film production center after two decades without local production, and became a reference point for the retomada (retaking) of Brazilian cinema in the 1990s.
- O Cangaceiro (1997) - directed by Anibal Massaini Neto, also screened at the inaugural Cine PE. The film was honored at the 30th edition in 2026 with a Calunga Prateada for its historical connection to the festival.
- Eliza Capai - director of A Fabulosa Maquina do Tempo, which won Best Director, Best Score, Best Actress, and the Abraccine Critics Award at the 30th edition (2026). Capai is an established Brazilian documentary filmmaker whose previous work has screened at festivals including It's All True (E Tudo Verdade).
- Gullane Entretenimento - honored with the Calunga Dourada at the 30th edition. Gullane is one of Brazil's most prolific production companies, with credits including The Second Mother (2015) and Bacurau (2019), both of which had significant international festival runs.
- Claudia Abreu - honored with the Calunga Dourada at the 30th edition for her 40-year career in Brazilian cinema and television.
Submission Tips
Cine PE's programming taste leans toward Brazilian regional cinema, particularly films that reflect the cultural identity of the Northeast. The curatorial process evaluates technical and artistic quality, the director's or production company's trajectory, premiere status, and alignment with the festival audience profile.
For feature films, the festival uses both direct selection and invitation. Filmmakers whose work has a strong regional identity or addresses northeastern Brazilian themes will find the most receptive programming. The festival programs fiction, animation, and documentary equally across all competitive shows.
The 22-minute maximum for shorts (including credits) is a hard limit. Many filmmakers discover at submission that their film exceeds this threshold. Measure your total running time including all end credits before submitting.
Free submissions remove the financial calculation that gates most festival entries. This means the competition pool is larger, as there is no cost barrier. Your film competes against every Brazilian short and feature that meets the eligibility criteria.
Prepare your accessibility materials before submitting, not after selection. Descriptive subtitles in Portuguese and audio description are mandatory by law (Instrucao Normativa 116/2014 of Ancine and Lei Brasileira de Inclusao 13.146/2015). Non-compliant films will not be exhibited. Budget R$500 to R$2,000 for short film accessibility materials and more for features.
Submit via the festival website, not FilmFreeway. The process requires filling out a registration form, printing it, signing it, scanning it, and emailing it along with your film link to iris@bpe.com.br and sandra@bpe.com.br. This is a manual process compared to one-click FilmFreeway submissions.
Industry Reputation
Cine PE is not a market festival. Distribution deals and sales agent attachments do not happen here. The festival's industry value lies in the TELA seminar and market program, which connects filmmakers to Brazilian industry discussions and project development opportunities. TELA was postponed from 2025 to the 30th anniversary edition in 2026, expanding its scope.
The festival was recognized as Patrimonio Cultural Imaterial do Recife (Intangible Cultural Heritage of Recife) in July 2026, through a municipal law sanctioned by Mayor Victor Marques. This recognition formalizes the festival's cultural significance within the city and provides institutional weight for funding applications.
The festival does not carry FIAPF accreditation. The Coral Award and Calunga trophy have recognition within Brazilian cinema circles but limited international industry impact. For filmmakers seeking international distribution or sales, Cine PE functions as a domestic platform rather than a launch point for global festival runs.
The festival's networking value is strongest for Brazilian filmmakers, particularly those based in or connected to the Northeast. The presence of national production companies (Gullane was honored in 2026) and the Ministry of Culture as a supporter creates connections within the Brazilian audiovisual sector. International co-productions are eligible but should not expect international industry attendance at the level of Rio or Sao Paulo festivals.
Watch
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Coverage of the 30th edition of Cine PE, including interviews with festival director Sandra Bertini and footage from the opening night at Teatro do Parque in Recife.
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Classe A TV coverage of Cine PE with interviews featuring actors Edson Celulari, Leticia Spiller, Luisa Arraes, and Caio Blat, plus festival presenter Ninive Caldas discussing the event's programming and atmosphere.
See Also
To calculate the return on your festival submission spending, use the Festival ROI Calculator. For festival strategy and submission planning, see Film Festival Strategy. To estimate your probability of acceptance, use the Festival Acceptance Odds Estimator. For Brazilian cinema context, see International Film Markets. The full regulations and submission form are available on the Cine PE website.
