Embrafilme

Embrafilme (in full: Empresa Brasileira de Filmes S.A.) was a Brazilian state-owned company established in 1969, operating under the Ministry of Education and Culture with the primary mission of fostering the production and distribution of national films. With a substantial budget, it financed the making of hundreds of films, releasing an average of 25 titles annually and helping usher in a golden age for Brazilian cinema—a period when the country boasted over 3,200 movie theaters. Its work was essential to consolidating Brazil's film industry throughout the 1970s and 1980s. In the late 1980s, the company began to face strong opposition, being accused of clientelism and poor management, within a broader context of economic crisis and market transformations, such as the popularization of the VCR. These pressures, combined with a campaign for the sector's privatization, culminated in its extinction in March 1990, through the National Privatization Program of the Collor government, without public debate about its future. Currently, the functions of regulating and promoting Brazilian cinema are carried out mainly by the National Film Agency (Ancine). State incentives for production occur through mechanisms such as the Audiovisual Law and public bidding processes from government agencies. Although there have been subsequent debates, such as at the 2009 National Conference on Communication (Confecom), about the possible recreation of a similar company, the adopted model remains based on the regulatory agency and public-private partnerships.