Born again

Born again


By DQ
January 20, 2025

The Director’s Chair

Rebirth artistic director Gustavo Fernandez breaks down his role on this Brazilian telenovela, his approach to remaking a hugely successful series from the 1990s, and how its themes have been updated for modern audiences.

Brazilian telenovela Renascer (Rebirth) first debuted on Globo in 1993, written by Benedito Rui Barbosa and directed by Luiz Fernando Carvalho.

Now, more than 30 years later, a remake of the series has aired on the same network, telling the story of José Inocêncio, who becomes a mythical figure thanks to a pact he makes with a jequitibá tree that leads him to become the most successful cocoa farmer in the region.

He falls in love with and marries Maria Santa, and they have four children together. But when their youngest son João Pedro is born, Maria dies in childbirth, fuelling a lifetime of resentment against him. Years later, the arrival of the mysterious Mariana puts José and João Pedro’s relationship further to the test when father and son fall for the same woman.

Adapted by Bruno Luperi and artistic director Gustavo Fernandez, the series debuted in January 2024 and ran until September with a cast that includes Marcos Palmeira, Humberto Carrão, Juan Paiva, Theresa Fonseca, Sophie Charlotte, Vladimir Brichta, Guilia Buscacio and Duda Santos. The 197-part series is produced and distributed by Globo.

Ahead of the Rose d’Or Latinos Awards in Miami as part of Content Americas tomorrow, Fernandez speaks to DQ about his role on the show, his concerns about remaking a popular series and reuniting with Luperi after they previously worked on another telenovela remake, 2022’s Pantanal.

Gustavo Fernandez, artistic director on Brazilian telenovela Renascer (Rebirth)

Gustavo, you are the artistic director of Rebirth. How would you describe this role on a telenovela?
Despite its name, the artistic direction of a telenovela is not restricted exclusively to the artistic aspect of the work. Of course, this is the most important aspect, fundamental to the success of the work. It comes from a very broad moment of conceptualising the project, casting, choosing locations and sets, defining costumes, music, what the photography will be like and the lighting for each set, right through to the day-to-day finishing, editing and sound design of each episode.

Artistic direction also has a very large executive role. The artistic director is responsible for the budget, planning and schedule, assisted by the production. The production organises this, but the final decisions also fall to the artistic director. So I really play the role of director and executive producer within a telenovela.

What was the appeal of remaking Benedito Ruy Barbosa’s 1993 series of the same name?
These historical telenovelas, which were very successful and had great impacts in their day, are a heritage not only of TV Globo, but of Brazilian television drama. These are telenovelas that made a mark, created fashion and really influenced the country when they were first shown.

So I think it’s quite logical to take them up again and create them with an updated look. It’s an interesting exercise to see what the repercussions of a telenovela would be like at a different time to when it was originally conceived. This is perhaps the main appeal not only for Rebirth, but for some of the other remakes Globo has been making lately.

Humberto Carrão as the young version of main character José Inocencio

How have you updated the story or the themes for a contemporary audience?
Taking the example of Rebirth and Pantanal, for which I was also artistic director, the difference between the first and second versions is 30 years. Of course, in everyday aspects, adaptation is necessary. The country has changed, life has changed and the way technology dominates everyday life is very different.

In the case of Rebirth, the major adaptation that was necessary, which is why it makes so much sense to have done this remake, concerns the very region in which the telenovela is set. In the first version, cocoa was still a gold mine. Brazil represented an important part of world production. At the time of the telenovela, a plague called witch’s broom arrived in the region, decimating the plantations and fortunes of the cocoa colonels. The region was economically stagnant for a long time.

Thirty years later, the region is facing the possibility of a comeback. Not to the same golden age, but an economic upturn, with fine, quality cocoa. This can only be achieved with sustainable thinking and planting.

With sustainable techniques, you can reduce or eliminate pest influence on the result. Thirty years later, we can tell this story with this new and necessary perspective. I think that’s a big difference with this version.

The award-winning original series was hugely successful. What concerns did you have about remaking it?
When it was announced that I was going to be the artistic director of Rebirth, it was amazing how many people I met who said it was the telenovela of their lives. I didn’t follow the first version, but I have a history with it.

The first version had artistic direction – at the time, this nomenclature was not used – by Luiz Fernando Carvalho. It was the first time he had the lead in a telenovela, where he expressed his ideas, and it was a very remarkable thing. He really brought a new look that changed Brazilian television.

And it was Luiz Fernando Carvalho who took me to television. My first job was assistant director on the movie Lavoura Arcaica, which was what he was doing when he took a break from television. Then he came back to television and called me, so it has that personal aspect for me too.

I think the main challenge for any new version, whether it’s a telenovela or a movie, is to please the public. In the case of Rebirth, the audience has such strong and beautiful memories of the first version. But at the same time, [we have] to please a younger audience, with a different mindset and different expectations.

Marcos Palmeira as the older José in the series, which airs on Brazil’s Globo

For the series, you have reunited with Pantanal writer Bruno Luperi. How do you like to work together?
I met Bruno on the first telenovela he wrote, Velho Chico, on which I was director and Luiz Fernando Carvalho was artistic director. Then I joined Pantanal and we had more direct contact.

Bruno is very open; he likes to collaborate and exchange ideas. The set is a dynamic space, and so are the ideas that come from the directors and actors. Rebirth is a work of dramatic density, so this stimulates the actor.

The actor is there all the time, not just when he’s filming, but when he’s reading the text, when he’s preparing. It is a very strong piece of work, which is instigating everyone who is carrying it out, in all departments.

It’s a very interesting process and Bruno likes it. It’s great working with him and I hope to do it again on other occasions.

How did you develop the series?
The first element that made me think about how to make the telenovela came from the region where the story takes place. I came from Pantanal, and it was important to differentiate between the two works, and this became very clear when I went on my first visit to get to know the cocoa region, in Ilhéus.

Pantanal is a more idyllic region, from another time, with low population density, no cities, and isolated farms. The cocoa region is very hilly, with mountains, and cocoa is grown in these conditions. I think that conditions the characters. That was the starting point for me to think about what the new version would look like. They are characters with a rougher life, and this generates other attitudes and a way of relating. This aspect is also reflected in the visual ideas, in the choice of locations.

What happens to Zé Inocêncio makes his life more inhospitable. He is a human being marked by brutality, of having to climb the hill of the cocoa plantation every day. He is a more raw character, who suffers a big blow in his life. This rawness also had to permeate the work as a whole.

Where is the series filmed and how do you use locations and settings throughout the show?
The external locations were in Bahia, in the Ilhéus region. But in a very large work, with 197 chapters, we couldn’t afford to travel for so long. So we did some research around the state of Rio de Janeiro, with places that were similar and where it was possible to draw parallels. We also built some scenography city sets inside the Estudios Globo.

Why might the series appeal to international viewers?
I think it could attract international viewers because it has a very strong story. Despite having very Brazilian elements and a Brazil that is perhaps not so well known abroad, it has very interesting characters and a very consistent dramaturgy. Rebirth paints a very visually realistic picture of Brazil and Brazilian culture but, at the same time, it also has a dramatic density of plot, which I’m sure can be interesting for viewers from any country.

tagged in: , , , ,