Lula Announces Launch of “Tela Brasil,” a Free Streaming Platform for Brazilian Content
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the launch of Tela Brasil, a free public streaming service for films and television series, during the Rio2C cultural and media event. The platform was created to expand public access to the country’s cultural and artistic productions.
At launch, the service offers a collection of 555 Brazilian titles. Anyone with an account on the Brazilian federal government’s digital platform will be able to access the service. The initial catalog includes 139 feature films, 85 television and mid-length productions, 267 short films, and 64 television series, produced between 1910 and 2025.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Lula said: “Tela Brasil helps people get to know their country better. I hope this platform becomes an important tool for bringing Brazilians closer to their own culture. Understanding our people and our cultural identity is extremely important.”
The event was attended by leading figures from the film and television industry, as well as government officials, including Margareth Menezes, Brazil’s Minister of Culture; Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro; and Ricardo Couto, Acting Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro.
During the event, Brazil’s Ministry of Culture and the country’s public communications company (EBC) signed an agreement under which more than 150 titles from the company’s archive—equivalent to approximately 3,000 hours of content—will be added to the Tela Brasil catalog.
Notable titles currently available on the platform include Black God, White Devil by Glauber Rocha, Xica da Silva directed by Cacá Diegues, the Academy Award-nominated films O Quatrilho and Four Days in September, as well as The Hour of the Star, Carandiru, Olga, and Almost Brothers. Well-known television programs, including the talk show Sem Censura (Without Censorship), are also part of the archive.
The Brazilian federal government invested approximately 9 million reais (about $1.8 million) in the project during 2024 and 2025. The funding has been used to acquire content rights, develop technology infrastructure, improve accessibility features, curate content, and manage the project. The platform’s technical infrastructure was developed through a partnership between the Ministry of Culture and the Federal University of Alagoas.
In another part of his speech, Lula emphasized: “Culture broadens people’s horizons and enables them to see beyond what is immediately in front of them. We must ensure that all Brazilians have access to cultural productions. Our country has extraordinary artists, and we should take pride in our cultural achievements.”
Also speaking at the event, Márcio Elias Rosa, Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, announced that the audiovisual sector has been designated as a strategic industry under the national New Industry Brazil program. According to Rosa, the sector currently accounts for approximately 0.6 percent of Brazil’s GDP and supports more than 680,000 direct jobs.
Rosa added that the government aims to increase the sector’s contribution to 1 percent of GDP. He also announced a meeting scheduled for June 17 involving public banks and financial institutions to develop new financing mechanisms and dedicated credit lines for audiovisual industry professionals.
