Rodrigo Teixeira Talks 20 Years Of RT Features; Middle East Foray With ‘Wolves’ & Verdict On James Gray’s ‘Paper Tiger’: “It’s His Best Film Yet”

[ad_1] Rodrigo Teixeira touches down on the Marrakech Movie Pageant this weekend to indicate first footage of Lebanese financial institution heist drama Wolves by filmmaking duo Rami Kodeih and Nora Mariana in its Atlas Workshops venture occasion.

Set towards the backdrop of the real-life collapse of Lebanon’s banking system in 2019, the triller marks Teixeira’s first foray into the Center East and it's unlikely to be his final.

The Brazilian Oscar-nominated I’m Nonetheless Right here producer spent the earlier weekend in Qatar as a visitor of the inaugural Doha Movie Pageant’s high-profile Trade Days occasion.

Teixeira was one of many audio system on the occasion at which the Gulf state’s Movie Committee unveiled a brand new 50% movie rebate and partnerships with Neon, Sony, Miramax, Division M and Firm 3.

“It was an excellent invitation and on the proper second for me. It’s a spot I’ve by no means been to. I wish to discover and see what’s occurring. It’s a been an amazing three days. They’re wanting to do make issues occur and hopefully one thing will come out of this journey,” the producer tells Deadline on the fringes of the assembly in Doha’s Rosewood resort.

These Center East journeys come at a time when the producer – whose São Paulo-based firm RT Options marks its twentieth anniversary in January 2026 – is more and more shifting past his early stomping grounds of Brazil and the U.S.

“The longer term is worldwide. That’s why I’m travelling a lot,” he says. “No less than 70% of one of the best films will not be English talking. The market is shifting. The most effective films are overseas films.”

He factors to Norwegian and Brazilian 2026 Oscar contenders Sentimental Worth and The Secret Agent as present textbook examples of movies with enchantment for residence audiences, A-list festivals, worldwide cinemas in addition to awards potential.

“It’s an exquisite movie,” he says of Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Worth. “It talks about common points, father and daughter relationships and has intelligent casting with Elle Fanning in function for a bit little bit of English.”

He suggests burgeoning markets like Brazil are additionally shifting the dial as its social media-engaged inhabitants will get behind their stars, which in flip amplifies their profile on the world stage.

“When Wagner Maura does one thing, it will get 700,000 likes on social media. It was the identical final 12 months with Fernanda Torres,” he says, referring to Brazilian actress whose worldwide star rose final 12 months together with her lead efficiency in I’m Nonetheless Right here.

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Teixeira recollects how his driving ambition when he began out as producer within the early 2000s, was to interrupt into the U.S. cinema scene.

“My dream was to make American movies, English talking films,” he says, including that he had no household connections with the U.S. and horrible English on the time. “I wasn’t able to having phone dialog.”

Undeterred, he achieved this dream, breaking into the market with Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha starring Greta Gerwig in 2012, with different early U.S. credit together with Kelly Reichardt’s Night time Strikes (2013), Ira Sach’s Love is Unusual (2014), and Robert Eggers’ first characteristic The Witch (2015) which he scouted at Sundance.

“I say this with out ego however I’m an excellent finder of initiatives. I understand how to seek out initiatives, the best way to put folks in initiatives and the best way to bundle initiatives. That’s my expertise,” says Teixeira. “You additionally have to take dangers in cinema and I’m a threat taker. I understand how to try this.”

He cites his work on Frances Ha for instance. “I financed a mortgage. Noah was coming for Greenberg which was not a profitable movie and Greta was not an enormous identify. Now Greta might be one of many greatest administrators on the earth and Noah too.”

He additionally alludes to his connection to the casting of latest massive stars of their early roles, similar to Adam Driver in Frances Ha, Anya Taylor-Pleasure in The Witch and Timothée Chalamet in Luca Guadagnino’s Name Me By Your Title.

Movies & Books

“We’ve had 20 robust years, with good and unhealthy, and now, that is the primary time that I’m not solely searching for American movies. They're a part of what I do, however not my first objective,” he says. “What stays the identical is that my firm is a director pushed firm.”

With greater than 65 options beneath his belt, towards simply three TV reveals, Teixeira says his old flame stays cinema, alongside books.

“They're my major love. I don’t have a publishing firm, I've a manufacturing firm, however I exploit books to feed my manufacturing firm and even when now we’re additionally doing originals,’ explains the producer.

His ardour for books is clear in his present slate that includes variations Glaxo by Argentinian and French director Benjamín Naishtat; Chilean director Dominga Sotomayor’s La Perra, and Mexican filmmaker Michelle Garza Cervera’s Ornamento.

Current originals have included Kontinental ’25 and Dracula by Romanian director Radu Jude, who Teixeira first met when served on Locarno’s 2016 Worldwide Competitors jury, which awarded the director the Particular Jury Prize for Scarred Hearts.

“I despatched a e book, nevertheless it wasn’t for him… then he despatched me two scripts and I advised him, ‘I’m in’. He’s a really gifted particular person. His capability to know the second we live proper now could be unbelievable.”

Teixeira’s involvement in Wolves took place via Kodeih and Mariana’s supervisor Jeff Okin at Nameless Content material.

Set in Beirut throughout Lebanon’s real-life 2019 financial collapse, the film revolves round a younger lady who's unable to withdraw her life’s financial savings, which she must pay for her sister’s uterus most cancers surgical procedure.

They recruit a truck driver and an ex-militia fighter for a daring plan to take what's rightfully theirs from the corrupt banking system, in a mission forcing them to confront the true value of survival, justice, and sisterhood in a metropolis on the point of collapse.

“He [Jeff Okin] despatched me the script. I learn it and thought this might occur in Brazil and I purchased it to do a Brazilian film,” recounts Teixeira.

Okin in flip requested Teixeira to speak to Kodeih and Mariana, suggesting the story would work higher as a U.S.-set film. They in flip begged Teixeira to allow them to set and shoot the movie in Lebanon as had been their authentic intention.

“They satisfied me,” says the producer.

The movie started taking pictures in late end-Might 2025, with Teixeira travelling to Lebanon from this 12 months’s Cannes Movie Pageant. An try to shoot the movie in 2024 had been deserted following a flare-up within the battle between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.

“It was unimaginable due to the struggle,” says Teixeira, who says the eventual shoot ended up working easily. “It was like 57 days of taking pictures in Beirut and Tripoli. We wrapped on the finish of July, the director requested for 20 weeks of enhancing which involves an finish quickly, and we’ll have some scenes to indicate on the Atlas workshops.”

It's amongst 10 options in manufacturing or post-production being showcased within the Atlas Workshops alongside different eagerly awaited titles similar to Laïla Marrakchi’s La Más Dulce and Asmae El Moudir Don’t Let The Solar Go Up On.

Teixeira is aiming for an enormous European premiere and hopes to attach with festivals and potential distribution companions at Marrakech.

James Grey’s Paper Tiger

Different productions nearing completion embrace James Grey’s crime drama Paper Tiger with Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson and Miles Teller. It marks Teixeira’s third collaboration with Grey after Armageddon Time and Advert Astra.

“We’re in put up proper now. For my part, it’s one of the best James Grey film ever. I’ve made three James Grey films, and that is for positive one of the best, I assure you,” says Teixeira. “Though it was a troublesome movie to provide, engaged on this movie was a pleasure. James was in nice form and the actors had been good too.”

Gross sales agent The Veterans shared a teaser for the film on the AFM, with Teixeira and his collaborators on the manufacturing aiming for an enormous A-list pageant debut.

Different productions slated for a 2026 launch embrace Glaxo a La Perra, which each not too long ago wrapped and are in put up.

Gabe Klinger’s drama Isabel, a couple of sommelier who decides to break-away from a domineering boss to arrange her personal wine bar, is accomplished as is Gustavo Vinagre and Gurcius Gewdner’s horror image Flushing a couple of killer rest room, which has set an as but unannounced pageant premiere.

Tailored from Hernan Ronsino’s 2017 novel, Glaxo is about in a down-at-heel Argentinian Pampas city and revolves round 4 childhood pals who paths diverge in maturity with a lethal end result.

Billed as a story of betrayal, ardour and revenge, it options popstar Lali Espósito alongside Esteban Lamothe and Marcelo Subiotto within the solid.

Getting over Glaxo over the road amid the movie funding cuts of populist Argentinian President Javier Milei, was no simple feat says Teixeira.

“It was laborious, however we’re totally financed. We made the movie in two small cities within the south of Brazil that appear to be Argentina… it was simpler because it’s loopy second there. It’s a strong movie and will likely be a speaking level subsequent 12 months,” says Teixeira.

La Perra stars I’m Nonetheless Right here actor Selton Mello alongside Manuela Oyarzún (The Good Life), David Gaete (Sayen), and Giannina Fruttero (Los Espookys).

Based mostly on a based mostly on a novel by Colombian author Pilar Quintana, it revolves round a girl dwelling on a distant Chilean island who develops a deep bond with an deserted pet as she grapples with a painful previous. RT is producing with Chilean manufacturing home Planta.

Ornamento is customized from the 2020 novel ‘Decorative’ by Colombian author Juan Cárdenas, and revolves round a scientist whose trials of a revolutionary leisure drug that works solely on ladies takes an sudden flip.

It marks a 3rd characteristic for Garza Cervera, considered one of Mexico’s buzziest rising skills who broke out with feminist horror Huesera: The Bone Lady and has since directed The Hand That Rocks the Cradle reboot for Hulu and Disney+.

“We’re closing casting,” says Teixeira

Different initiatives within the works embrace Brazilian director Fernando Nogari’s Queens of the Night time. Described by Teixeira as a transvestite world gangland story within the vein of Goodfellas, the movie will shoot in the direction of the tip of the 12 months.

Teixeira says the previous 12 months since late 2024 have been a joyous interval for him as a producer even when the occupation stays robust.

“I’ve been very completely satisfied doing movies this previous 12 months… We now have 5 movies prepared festivals and different massive initiatives coming down the street. 2026 will likely be a busy 12 months for RT.”