As part of a strategy to build a new cinephile audience and revive the filmgoing experience in Brazil, São Paulo-based distributor O2 Play is theatrically releasing a selection of classic films, starting with A24’s 4K restored version of the seminal ‘80s Talking Heads concert docu, “Stop Making Sense” by Jonathan Demme.
The company has also launched an app called “carteirinha de cinéfilo” (cinephile card), to offer moviegoers special discounts, collectibles and foster the theatrical experience.
“Available at the App Store and Google store, we decided to launch it to help engage our audience and bring them back to theaters,” said O2 Play founder Igor Kupstas who laments the universal decline in cinema attendance since the pandemic, felt in Brazil and most parts of the world.
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According to Kupstas, who launched O2 Play in 2013, talks are underway with traditional and IMAX screen owners for the premiere of “Stop Making Sense” across an estimated 50 screens on Aug. 29.
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“I had already been chasing the film but when it was screened a few months ago at a small independent cinema run by director Kleber Mendonça (“Aquarius”) and it sold out within a couple of hours, I knew we were on the right track,” Kupstas told Variety.
O2 Play, which forms part of powerhouse production company O2 Filmes, owned by Paulo Morelli, Andrea Barata Ribeiro and Fernando Meirelles, is also planning to release a remastered version of the 2004 crime drama “The Edukators,” 20 years after making a splash in Cannes.
O2 Filmes is in development on a follow-up to the cult film with its director Hans Weingarten who resides in Brazil. Plans are for the co-production between O2 Filmes and Weingarten’s Kahuuna Films GmbH to shoot in Brazil, said Kupstas. The original, along with “Goodbye Lenin,” launched the career of actor Daniel Brühl, he noted. Brühl, Stipe Erceg and Julia Jentsch played three young activists who invaded wealthy homes and wreaked havoc as part of their anti-capitalist campaign.
“Living here, Weingarten was shocked at the much wider disparity among the social classes in Brazil which prompted him to write a new story,” said Kupstas.
Brazil just passed a law that would make cinemas exempt from some taxes, which he hopes could help them recover from the current sorry state of cinema going. “It’s been a struggle but we are optimistic,” he said.
O2 Play theatrically releases an average of 20 to 24 titles a year. Among its titles this year are Wim Wenders Oscar-nominated “Perfect Days” and Woody Allen’s latest film, the French-language romantic drama “Coup de Chance, slated for September.
O2 Play’s chief content officer Guto Gontijo and CEO Paulo Barcellos are attending Rio2C.
