Context

Neon Heart is a Brazilian feature film, genre: drama/action, written and directed by Lucas Estevan Soares and produced by Rhaissa Gonçalves. The film was screened for the first time on April 7, 2022 at Cinemark Memorial City, in Houston (USA). From then on, it participated in several national and international film festivals, premiering in Brazilian movie theaters on March 9, 2023. Neon Heart received several nominations, being awarded at the Moscow International Film Festival, in Russia, at the WorldFest Houston, in the United States, and at FestCine Pedra Azul, in Espírito Santo, Brazil.

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The New Brazilian Popular Cinema

Neon Heart had its European premiere at the 75th Marché du Film, at the Cannes Film Festival, in France. Neon Heart was cited by critics as "The New Brazilian Popular Cinema". This means that the film strikes the perfect balance between commercial cinema and auteur cinema.

1st Brazilian Dolby Atmos 9.1 Film

The film is the first Brazilian film with Dolby Atmos 9.1 "immersive sound" technology, which places the viewer in a "bubble" in which sound can be emitted from any position, depending on what happens in the film, allowing the listener to perceive the difference between sounds received from different directions.

Pre-production Neon Heart

Check out behind-the-scenes images from Neon Heart's pre-production below.

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Web Series: Neon Heart Pre-production

Watch the 13-episode web series behind the scenes of Neon Heart's pre-production. Use the arrows to navigate and click on the images below to watch each episode.

Ep. 1 — Pre-production

Ep. 2 — Pre-production

Ep. 3 — Pre-production

Ep. 4 — Pre-production

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Ep. 13 — Pre-production

Production Neon Heart

Neon Heart was produced by Rhaissa Gonçalves and Lucas Estevan Soares through the International House of Cinema (IHC), which financed 100% of the US$320K budget used in the project with its own resources, raised by its work developed in the United States. The independent production, in the "guerilla cinema" style, did not use public financing resources. During the distribution phase, the film brought on board one more private investor, the tech entrepreneur Mehdi Avdi, who invested an additional US$100K directed toward marketing and distribution costs.

The feature film was filmed in the second half of 2019 in Curitiba, in the Boqueirão neighborhood, with post-production being carried out during the covid-19 pandemic. The first Brazilian film finished with Dolby Atmos immersive sound technology, the film featured a cast entirely drawn from the Curitiba art scene.

The idea for the project came from director Lucas Estevan Soares' fascination with the dynamics of singing telegram car services (something totally unique to Brazil), and he then imagined a chase involving one of these vehicles, materialized in the film as "Boquelove", the nickname for the blue 1975 Ford Corcel that gives the film its name.

Check out behind-the-scenes images from Neon Heart's production below.

Web Series: Neon Heart Production

Watch the 21-episode web series of behind-the-scenes of Neon Heart's production. Use the arrows to navigate and click on the images below to watch each episode.

Ep. 1 — Production

Ep. 2 — Production

Ep. 3 — Production

Ep. 4 — Production

Ep. 5 — Production

Ep. 6 — Production

Ep. 7 — Production

Ep. 8 — Production

Ep. 9 — Production

Ep. 10 — Production

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Ep. 13 — Production

Ep. 14 — Production

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Ep. 16 — Production

Ep. 17 — Production

Ep. 18 — Production

Ep. 19 — Production

Ep. 20 — Production

Ep. 21 — Production

Ep. 22 — Production

Post-production Neon Heart

Check out behind-the-scenes images from Neon Heart's post-production below.

Web Series: Neon Heart Post-production

Watch the 2-episode web series where we show behind-the-scenes of Neon Heart's post-production. Use the arrows to navigate and click on the images below to watch each episode.

Ep. 1 — Post-production

Ep. 2 — Post-production

Cast Interviews

Click on the images below to watch the interviews done with Neon Heart's cast members.

Paulo Matos

Ana de Ferro

Wawa Black

Wagner Jovanaci

Wenry Bueno

Crew Interviews

Click on the images below to watch the interviews done with Neon Heart's crew members.

Mariana Pires

Humberto Gomes

Eduardo Ribeiro

Victor Microchip

Victor Melo

Film Festival Screenings

Neon Heart was shown for the first time on April 7, 2022, on the 55th edition of the Houston International Film Festival (WorldFest Houston), being awarded the Remi Trophy ("Special Jury Award" category). Soon after, it was shown to a warm audience at the 24th RiverRun International Film Festival. Director Lucas Estevan Soares and producer Rhaissa Gonçalves personally attended these two events and you can check out this entire journey in the videos below.

After these two landmark events, Neon Heart continued to be shown at film festivals across the United States, Europe and Asia, until arriving in Brazil at the end of 2022 at the 5th FestCine Pedra Azul where it was awarded in almost all categories.

Web Series: Neon Heart at US Film Festivals

Watch the 5-episode web series where we show behind the scenes of Neon Heart's participation in film festivals in the United States, including the world premiere and the first award the film won. Use the arrows to navigate and click on the images below to watch each episode.

Ep. 1 — WorldFest Houston

Ep. 2 — Pitstop Atlanta

Ep. 3 — RiverRun

Ep. 4 — Winston Salem

Ep. 5 — Highlights

Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes - Cannes, France

Neon Heart participated in the largest film market in the world in May 2022, the 75th edition of the Marché du Film - Cannes Film Festival. The film was shown at the Olympia theater, in the only theater prepared with Dolby ATMOS® technology in the entire south of France. The screening was a success, and it was after this event that critics classified Neon Heart as being the "New Brazilian Popular Cinema".

Web Series: Neon Heart at Cannes 2022

Watch the 15-episode web series where we show behind the scenes of Neon Heart's participation in the largest film market in the world: the Marché du Film - Cannes Film Festival (2022). Use the arrows to navigate and click on the images below to watch each episode.

Ep. 1 — Marché du Film

Ep. 2 — Marché du Film

Ep. 3 — Marché du Film

Ep. 4 — Marché du Film

Ep. 5 — Marché du Film

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Expocine - São Paulo, Brasil

Neon Heart's director, Lucas Estevan Soares was invited to Expocine in São Paulo to officially announce, alongside Dolby Labs, Neon Heart as the first film in Brazil to have Dolby ATMOS® immersive sound. All the biggest players in the Brazilian film industry were present at the session.

Vista - Buenos Aires, Argentina

Neon Heart's director, Lucas Estevan Soares was invited to VISTA in Buenos Aires, Argentina to officially announce, alongside Dolby Labs, Neon Heart as being the first film in Brazil to have the Dolby ATMOS® immersive sound.

It was an incredible and transformative experience for the film's journey, opening doors in distribution in cinemas in Argentina and Uruguay.

Click on the image below to watch behind the scenes of Neon Heart's participation in the Vista Latam Cinema Show.

Winner

Nominated

Premiere Rio de Janeiro

Neon Heart's premiere that took place at the UCI in Barra da Tijuca had exciting reactions in the audience, the presence of Brazilian celebrities and even a queue to take photos with the cast on the backdrop.

Premiere São Paulo

Neon Heart's premiere in São Paulo packed the movie theater Cine Marquise. And after the session, the crew and cast held a Q&A with the audience.

Premiere Curitiba

Neon Heart's premiere in Curitiba took place at the theater Teatro Positivo Grande Auditorio and had a pioneering event with a red carpet, the entire cast, the press and a celebration cocktail. The theater received 2000 people that night.

Behind the Scenes - Curitiba Premiere

Click on the images below to see behind-the-scenes of Neon Heart's crew preparing the premiere event in Curitiba.

Premiere Medianeira

Neon Heart's last premiere event took place in Paraná's countryside, in the city of Medianeira at the movie theater Cinesul. In a cozy and intimate version, the cinema held a session for 50 people.

Cinema premiere

The national premiere happened on March 9, 2023 in 150 screens around Brazil (including Cinemark, UCI, Cinesystem and Cinépolis). And in April of the same year it premiered in movie theaters in Argentina and in Uruguay.

Click on the photos below to watch the advertising campaigns carried out during Neon Heart's premiere and distribution period. All the videos below are the result of partnerships with Brazilian brands. In order: Los Paleteros (1 and 2); WayBeer (3); Tropical Banana (4); Midialand (5); Tinder (6); Vidrama (7); UP Experience (8).

Click on the photos below to watch the promotional campaigns made during Neon Heart's commercial release in the movie theaters.

Click on the photos below to watch the videos of the events held to promote Neon Heart's commercial release in movie theaters. In order: Shinobis Experience (1); Nerd Carnival (2); Mornings Curitiba (3); Menô Skate Bar (4).

Cinemas

Neon Heart had 4 premiere events open to the public, was screened in movie theaters all over Brazil for 6 weeks, and received an audience of approximately 10 thousand people.

Streaming

Neon Heart is currently available to watch on several streaming platforms. Click the button below to choose the channel and be redirected to the access link.