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The Encounters Award was created to spotlight the transformative role of private investment in culture, bringing together private funders and the creative professionals behind audiovisual productions. The inaugural honor will be bestowed upon Rabinovich during the event’s opening gala ceremony on Oct. 14 and ahead of an in-conversation event with Neon president Jeff Deutchman.

Born in São Paulo, Rabinovich spent years volunteering in hospitals, working closely with terminally ill patients. In 2018, she founded the Olga Rabinovich Institute, launching Projeto Paradiso soon after. The initiative is dedicated to the advancement of the Brazilian audiovisual sector and grew out of her belief that “stories can change the world,” as well as a decision to invest in the people who create them and want to share them with audiences worldwide.

“Olga Rabinovich is the first recipient of the newly created Prêmio Encontros, because she was the inspiration behind the award,” said Renata de Almeida, director of the São Paulo International Film Festival. I first heard Olga’s name in early 2018, when Josephine Bourgois came to see me about someone from the private sector who wanted to create an institute dedicated to cinema. The Olga Rabinovich Institute was announced during the 42nd Mostra, bringing a breath of hope at a time that promised to be particularly difficult for Brazilian film and culture.”

“Eight years later, Projeto Paradiso, an initiative of the Olga Rabinovich Institute, has already made a major contribution to discovering and championing a new generation of talent, strengthening Brazil’s audiovisual sector as a whole,” continued the director. “Projeto Paradiso has an outstanding professional team, as its results clearly demonstrate. But the image that stays with me is of a meeting with Olga, climbing the winding stairs of our little building for a somewhat chaotic coffee in the festival’s office. Because, in the end, almost everything really does begin with an encounter.”

Earlier this year, Variety sat down with the philanthropist ahead of the third Projeto Paradiso National Network Meeting in Brazil’s buzzy production hub of Recife. Rabinovich said she “loved the idea of supporting cinema because I feel it is a magical art form.” “You enter a screening room without knowing whether you’ll be elated or disturbed or moved. It’s a transformative experience. I think it’s incredible to have a communal artistic experience that moves you like this.”

Projeto Paradiso offers a wide range of support to Brazilian screen professionals to maximize their presence on the global stage, supporting the development of stories through fellowships, residencies, workshops, and other training and international reach initiatives. The Paradiso Talent Network now comprises 278 Brazilian professionals.

The organization also helps connect Brazilian talent and projects with the international industry through a network of more than 250 partner institutions in Brazil and abroad, including the Hubert Bals Fund, La Fabrique Cinéma de l’Institut français, TorinoFilmLab, Film Independent and the Sundance Institute.

The initiative was recently behind buzzy festival titles such as Allan Deberton’s Berlinale-winning “Gugu’s World” and Grace Passô’s “Our Secret,” and boasts a talent network of 264 professionals, including Anita Rocha da Silveira (“Medusa”), Juliana Rojas (“Good Manners”) and Dira Paes (“Manas”).

In 2025 Projeto Paradiso teamed with the Embratur Brazilian Tourism Board to launch Screen Brasil, offering four Brazilian films a year in two calls – the latest of which closed Oct. 2 supporting their international distribution campaigns, submissions being made by the international sales agent holding the film’s commercial rights. Announced at Cannes Marché du Film this May, films backed to date take in Gabriel Mascaro’s “The Blue Trail,” Rafaela Camelo’s “The Nature of Invisible Things” and animated feature “Papaya.”

Projeto Paradiso’s relationship with the São Paulo International Film Festival dates back to 2018, when the philanthropy initiatve was launched during the festival’s 42nd edition. Since then, Projeto Paradiso has steadily expanded its presence at the festival.

Since 2023, it has presented the annual Paradiso Distribution Support Award, providing a distribution grant for the theatrical release of a fiction feature. In 2024, Projeto Paradiso was also one of the driving forces behind a new partnership with the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF), which led to the creation of HBF+Brazil following initial discussions at Encontro de Ideias.

The 50th edition of the São Paulo International Film Festival runs Oct. 15-29.