BRAVO Film Festival To Pause For 2026

The organizers behind the BRAVO Film Festival, the popular LA-based event focused on Brazilian cinema, have canceled the 2026 edition of the festival.

Organizers said the event will not take place due to circumstances beyond their control. They added that preparation for next year’s edition will continue.

“Our commitment to Brazilian cinema and to the filmmakers, partners, and audiences who have supported BRAVO has not changed,” Talize Sayegh, the festival’s founder and executive director, said in a statement. “We are grateful for that community and focused on returning next year with a festival worthy of it.”

Founded in 2008, the BRAVO Film Festival often serves as a U.S. showcase for the year’s most exciting Brazilian talent. The festival traditionally screens Brazil’s submission for the Best International Oscar as its opening title. In 2024, that was Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, and 2025 was The Secret Agent, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and starring Wagner Moura.

The organization has longstanding partnerships with American Cinematheque, the Brazilian Consulate in Los Angeles, Cinema do Brasil, and Projeto Paradiso.

“This pause gives us time to keep building what BRAVO stands for: a stronger bridge between Brazilian filmmakers and Hollywood,” Thiago Macêdo Correia, the festival’s creative director, said in a statement.

“The work continues, and we are excited to return next year with the stories, talent, and energy that define Brazilian cinema.”

The festival ran across November in Los Angeles. The 2025 edition opened at the Academy Museum.