Once Upon a Time in Rio is a Brazilian romantic drama film released in 2008 and directed by Breno Silveira, set in Rio de Janeiro. It was produced by Conspiração Filmes, co-produced by Globo Filmes and by Lereby Produções and distributed in Brazil by Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing do Brasil.

Plot

Dé (Thiago Martins) was born and raised at the Cantagalo slum, in Rio de Janeiro. As a child, he witnessed his brother being murdered by a local drug dealer due to a football-related fight. His other brother, Carlão (Rocco Pitanga), is banished from the slum and ends up arrested because of him. Willing to live an honest life, Dé gets a job at a kiosk at Ipanema beach. There, he meets Nina (Vitória Frate), a rich girl living in an apartment right in front of the kiosk. The two fall in love and begin to date. Initially, they keep their relationship as a secret because of her overprotective father Evandro (Paulo César Grande), but after he finds out, he ends up accepting it after much insistence by Nina.