With its stunning vistas, beautiful beaches and lovely residents, Rio de Janeiro poses a serious challenge to its own film festival.

Yet in spite of — or perhaps because of — the city and its tropical groove, the relaxed and immensely enjoyable Rio de Janeiro Intl. Film Festival remains one of South America’s premiere fests, with strong focuses on domestic as well as Latin American cinema and top selections from around the globe that make up the 350 films showing in the more than 20 sections.

No fest is perfect and Rio has its share of problems. This year the strict laws regulating municipal elections prohibited the festival from setting up its headquarters on Copacabana Beach, as had long been the tradition. The late-minute ban sent organizers scrambling, although they managed to find a great new location in downtown at the last minute. The vast new pavilion offered plenty of space, but poor wiring in that part of town resulted in wonky Internet connections that bedeviled staffers, bloggers and fest attendees alike. Long distances between hotels, cinemas and the fest center didn’t help. But no one gets their undies in a bunch. What could turn into a major crisis at others fests is taken in stride, with laid-back humor and contagious smiles.

Among the most talked about local pics in Rio this year was “A Festa da Menina Morta” (The Dead Girl’s Feast), pictured below, the directing debut of Brazilian thesp Matheus Nachtergaele (“City of God”), which screened this year in Cannes [read more @ The Circuit ]