Brazilian Producer Maria Farinha Films Takes Minority Stake in The White Helmets Product

Publish date: 2024-08-26

Brazilian social impact entertainment company Maria Farinha Films has taken a minority stake in Joanna Natasegara’s London-based production company Violet Films, which is known for high-profile docs such as “White Helmets,” “Virunga,” “The Edge of Democracy” and Prince Harry’s Netflix series “Invictus.”

Leonardo DiCaprio and Barry Jenkins are involved as producer and writer, respectively, in Violet Films’ upcoming feature film adaptation of “Virugna” for Netflix.

São Paulo-based Maria Farinha Films is a leading studio in Latin America, known for its hit Globoplay Original “Aruanas” — created by the company’s co-founders Estela Renner and Marcos Nisti — about four women in a São Paulo environmental NGO battling devastation wrought by a mining corporation. The shingle is also behind the doc franchise “The Beginning of Life 1 and 2,” which reconnects childhood to the natural world and sparked a movement as it launched in theaters and global streaming platforms.

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“Our vision is centered on harnessing the power of collective intelligence from development to distribution to produce content that is both globally relevant and culturally specific,” said Maria Farinha Films co-CEOs and partners Luana Lobo and Mariana Oliva in a joint statement. “We have been developing projects together with Joanna Natasegara for a number of years and she is a natural partner for us. This new approach is not merely about forming a coalition, it’s about constructing a vibrant ecosystem where ideas, cultural insights, market opportunities and artistic visions cross-pollinate to expand the global scope and depth of our slate.”

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Lobo and Oliva are in Cannes to present Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltrán’s “Moa,” about a woman whose battle to escape a toxic relationship in a mining city leads her to connect with the Taíno indigenous people who were its original inhabitants.

Commented Natasegara: “The urgency of this moment in the industry is clear and both parties have long believed storytelling is a crucial tool for improving the world. Together, we have an even stronger ability to commit time, talent and resources to find the best new international talent telling the stories of our time.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

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