Newly launched Brazilian film fund Virtù-Schurmann Cinema has signed a first-look deal with UK-based sales and financing company Salt. 

Salt, which has previously worked on Brazilian titles including City Of Men (Cidade de Homens) (pictured) and Cidade Baixa (Lower City), will help Virtù-Schurmann in identifying and developing Brazilian films with international potential.

The $30m fund was set up in January 2010 and will work on Brazilian productions and international co-productions. The deal was brought to Salt by its US-based representative Susan Wrubel and negotiated by Salt MD Samantha Horley with Schurmann at the 2010 Miami International Film Festival.

Samantha Horley, Salt’s Managing Director, said: “We have a history of working with Brazilian filmmakers and we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with Virtù-Schurmann to help the new generation find success in the international market.”

 “As a new fund, we acknowledge the importance of having a solid international partner who can help us identify and evaluate films projects in their early stages,” added David Schurmann of Schurmann Films. “We appreciate Salt’s acumen in assessing the current marketplace in terms of budget, cast, and commerciality, providing guidelines which can then help elevate our projects to their full international potential.  The fact that Salt is a UK/US based company gives us the vantage point that we need to position our projects in these important markets. The Brazilian market is experiencing its best moment of the last 30 years, with constant growth in the numbers of productions and co-productions and market participation in ticket sales.”

This initiative has the strong support of film export programme Cinema do Brasil.

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