Carlos Saldanha Brings Brazilian Explorer Story to Life in '100 Days'

It might have taken pioneering explorer Amyr Klink one hundred days to cross the Atlantic, but it took Carlos Saldanha almost three thousand to bring his story to the big screen. After nearly a decade working on the epic, the 'Ice Age' and 'Rio' director is finally bringing '100 Days' to audiences as the Brazilian closing gala of this year's Rio Film Festival. The project marks a major milestone in Saldanha's career as he transitions into live-action filmmaking with a deeply personal story from his homeland.

'100 Days' is adapted from Klink's book 'One Hundred Days Between Sky and Sea' and chronicles Klink's trailblazing 1984 solo journey from Africa to Brazil across the South Atlantic in a tiny rowing boat. The film stars Filipe Bragança as the explorer, 'Emily in Paris' star Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as his mother, Asa, plus Felipe Camargo and João Silva as Klink's father and brother, respectively. The casting brings together an international and local talent pool to capture the intimate family dynamics behind the monumental physical feat.

Speaking with Variety ahead of the premiere, Saldanha recalls veteran producer Paula Consenza bringing him the project before the pandemic. At the time, the director was working on 'Ferdinand' and eyeing the opportunity to direct his first live-action project. When this project came to him, he thought it was a great coincidence because he loved the book. It was a very formative read in his teenage years. When he got the script, he reread the book and loved it even more, realizing it deserved a big cinema treatment.

Once he boarded the project, Saldanha reworked the script alongside Elena Soarez and Thais Tavares. The pandemic years introduced unprecedented challenges to the production schedule, slowing down progress significantly. However, the director persevered through the difficulties, driven by his passion for the source material and his desire to give Klink's incredible journey the cinematic scope it demanded. The result is a grand adventure that highlights Brazilian resilience, exploration, and storytelling on an international scale.

The premiere at the Rio Film Festival represents a wonderful homecoming for Saldanha, who has spent much of his career working within major international studio systems. By returning to Brazil to direct an epic narrative about a national hero, he bridges global cinematic techniques with a profoundly local story. '100 Days' stands as a testament to both Klink's original endurance on the open ocean and Saldanha's persistent dedication to bringing this remarkable chapter of history to life on the silver screen.