O Rio la de cima

O Rio la de cima follows two runners on a 50-kilometre crossing from Mirante Dona Marta to Pedra da Gávea. Marcio Souza and Fernando Abdalla, credited as Marcinho and Nando, move through a part of Rio de Janeiro where neighbourhoods, mountains and vegetation share the same horizon. Running becomes the thread connecting these environments and offers a view of the city from a different height and at a different pace.

The route begins with panoramic views before moving into parkland and forest. Trails, steps, railway tracks, roots and passages across rock mark the changing ground beneath the runners' feet. The film does not present the city merely as a backdrop: the distance, the climbs and the variety of the landscape turn both urban and natural space into a tangible part of the sporting experience.

The direction moves between wide and aerial views and closer images of footsteps and the more physical sections of the route. Morning light opens the film over the greenery and the bay; inside the forest, shadows and filtered light accompany the ascent. The runners' shirts remain visible within the landscape, while changes of scale convey the relationship between their bodies, the mountain and the expanse of Rio.

A brief voiceover introduces the first NAND Experience, the length of the crossing and its two endpoints. In less than four minutes, O Rio la de cima places the two protagonists’ run alongside trails, forest and rock within the metropolis of Rio de Janeiro.

Fabio Seixas directed the film, with Luigi Bayeux credited as producer. The Brazilian documentary short was shot digitally, is in Portuguese, runs for 3 minutes and 54 seconds, and was completed in 2025. O Rio la de cima was entered in the fifth edition of the International Sport Film Festival under its original title.