By Nana Muazin 
It might have taken legendary Brazilian explorer Amyr Klink exactly one hundred days to row across the South Atlantic in a tiny, hand-built boat, but for director Carlos Saldanha, the journey to bring that odyssey to the silver screen spanned nearly three thousand days. A veteran of the Hollywood animation machine—having helmed global juggernauts like Ice Age, Rio, and Ferdinand—Saldanha has finally unveiled his ambitious live-action feature, 100 Days, as the prestigious closing gala of this year’s Rio Film Festival.
The film serves as a grand homecoming for Saldanha, marking his definitive transition from the world of digital frames to the visceral, tactile demands of high-stakes live-action filmmaking. As the lights dimmed at the historic Odeon cinema in Rio de Janeiro, the audience was not merely watching a historical recreation; they were witnessing the culmination of a decade of creative persistence, international collaboration, and a profound desire to celebrate Brazilian heroism on a global scale.
The Genesis of an Odyssey: From Page to Screen
100 Days is an adaptation of Amyr Klink’s seminal memoir, One Hundred Days Between Sky and Sea. The book chronicles the harrowing, trailblazing 1984 solo expedition in which Klink successfully rowed from Namibia, Africa, to the shores of Brazil. It remains one of the most significant feats of human endurance in maritime history.
For Saldanha, the project was a long-gestating passion. Speaking with Variety ahead of the gala, the director recalled the moment veteran producer Paula Consenza approached him with the material just before the global pandemic. “When this project came to me, I thought it was a great coincidence because I love the book,” Saldanha explains. “It was a very formative read in my teenage years. When I got the script, I reread the book and loved it even more. I knew it deserved a big cinema treatment.”
The project, however, required more than just a surface-level adaptation. Together with screenwriters Elena Soarez and Thais Tavares, Saldanha spent years refining the narrative. While the COVID-19 pandemic caused significant production delays, it inadvertently provided the creative team with the necessary time to "finesse" the psychological depth of the protagonist.
“To me, it wasn’t enough to just tell the tale of this hundred-day adventure,” says Saldanha. “I was very interested in what was going on in Amyr’s head, what he did while he spent such a long time rowing all by himself, all alone in the sea.”
The Human Element: Casting the Explorer
The narrative gravity of 100 Days relies almost entirely on the performance of its lead. Saldanha cast Filipe Bragança as the titular explorer, a decision that proved to be the cornerstone of the film’s emotional resonance.
“We had a very interesting casting process because it’s a fairly small ensemble, so they all had to be in synergy,” Saldanha notes. “Filipe was incredible. He is very studious and dedicated. We met for coffee, and it was love at first sight. He worked so hard for the role; he went on a strict diet, he watched every single Amyr video, he read and reread the book… And the result speaks for itself. He holds the weight of the film on his shoulders. He was a champion.”
The supporting cast provides the emotional anchor for Klink’s journey, featuring the acclaimed Emily in Paris star Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as his mother, Asa. The casting of Leroy-Beaulieu was, according to the director, a "happy coincidence." Given that Klink’s mother was Swedish and possessed a distinct linguistic cadence, the production required an actress capable of bridging that cultural gap.
“I was so impressed with how great her Portuguese is,” Saldanha recalls. “And she looks a lot like Amyr’s mother, so it felt just right. She came to Brazil for two weeks to shoot, and it was wonderful.” The ensemble is rounded out by seasoned actors Felipe Camargo and João Silva, portraying Klink’s father and brother, respectively.
Technical Feats: Engineering the Storm
Transitioning from the controlled environment of an animation studio to the unpredictable reality of ocean-based cinematography presented the production with its most significant logistical hurdles. To capture the claustrophobia of the small boat against the vast, indifferent Atlantic, the team had to employ a hybrid approach to filmmaking.
“It was a great learning curve for the entire team,” Saldanha admits, describing the construction of a massive water tank. “It was the first time we were working with a tank that big, and we were learning as we went. We spent a week in the ocean, but we needed the tank to shoot the night sequences, the storm… It was an added element to the production.”
The visual effects work was a monumental task that extended long after the cameras stopped rolling. The production maintained a two-year post-production window, specifically to ensure the water sequences possessed a "blockbuster" quality. The film utilized a unique, international co-production model, with visual effects teams splitting the workload between São Paulo and Finland. “It was a very, very cool co-production model,” the director adds. “It was challenging, but so worth it because the film looks beautiful.”
A Director’s Homecoming: Implications for the Brazilian Market
Saldanha’s return to Brazil to film 100 Days is not just a personal milestone; it represents a shifting tide in the domestic film industry. Having spent his career largely in the United States, his recent move to tackle local stories—including his work on the Netflix series Invisible City—marks a purposeful effort to integrate into the Brazilian market.
“With Netflix’s Invisible City and 100 Days, I began breaking the barriers I had within the Brazilian film industry, because I didn’t know that many people in the industry here, and I didn’t have a lot of experience working within the Brazilian market,” he says. “This homecoming was such a wonderful opportunity. It has been a very good thing for me, and I was very well received. My experience has only increased my desire to continue working in Brazil.”
This shift is emblematic of a broader movement within Latin American cinema to reclaim indigenous stories that have historically been overlooked by domestic productions in favor of imported Hollywood blockbusters.
“Another thing is: I think we need to tell the stories of our heroes,” Saldanha asserts. “We are used to watching foreign heroes on screen, but we need to see ourselves reflected in our cinema and understand we, too, have heroes—this is a heartwarming thought for me.”
Conclusion: The Legacy of a Solo Journey
As the film makes its way into wider theatrical release, the reception at the Rio Film Festival serves as a testament to the project’s ambition. For Saldanha, the goal is simple: he wants audiences to experience the film in the immersive environment of a cinema.
“The film has a lot of big adventure elements, so I think people will enjoy seeing that on the big screen,” he says.
100 Days stands as a poignant reminder of what can be achieved when a visionary director reconciles their international experience with their cultural roots. Produced by Ventre Studio in a massive collaborative effort with Buena Vista International, Boipeba Filmes, Trema Filmes, O2 Post, and Total Post, the film is poised to become a staple of Brazilian cinema.
Whether one views it as a gripping survival thriller or a deeply personal character study, 100 Days solidifies Carlos Saldanha’s reputation as a filmmaker who can navigate both the vast, digital plains of animation and the turbulent, unpredictable waters of human ambition. Just as Amyr Klink’s journey inspired a generation of explorers, Saldanha’s decade-long pursuit of this story may well inspire a new generation of Brazilian filmmakers to turn their lenses toward their own backyard, proving that the most compelling stories are often those that require the longest time to navigate.
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