VJ Torna Brasil 2025 — São Luís do Maranhão

VJ Torna was born in Budapest — in the mid-2000s, created by Laki Laszlo, founder of Cinetrip and of the Sparty parties in the city’s Turkish baths. It arrived in Brazil in 2010, in São Paulo, brought by VJ Spetto; it went through Brasília in 2018 before landing in São Luís in 2025, organised by Spetto himself with Acústica Sound. The contest brought together 24 selected VJs in head-to-head matches — round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-final and a three-way final, decided in a best of three —, judged on visual originality, musical sync, impact, technique and narrative. More about the tournament on the official VJ Torna Brasil website.

I was one of the 24 selected for the 2025 edition, in São Luís. Below is the record of my experience, from start to finish.

I left Fortaleza by car heading to São Luís do Maranhão. It was about 14 hours on the road — sertão, dust, a sunset halfway there and the last hour already on a dark road.

I arrived at a guesthouse in the Historic Centre of São Luís, surrounded by colonial houses, Portuguese tiles worn by time and a lot of graffiti in the streets. The tournament started the very next day.

They were three intense days of activities, preparation and fun with VJ friends — between talks, set adjustments and the battles themselves, projected on a giant screen set up in the guesthouse courtyard, next to the pool.

The bracket was knockout, head to head — I advanced round by round until the final of my bracket.

Those who crossed this path with me — friends and fellow VJs, late at night and by day:

I finished in 1st place — a prize that came with a very generous cheque and a 30-day artist residency at the Light Art Museum, in Budapest. Second place went to the artist Carol Santana, and third to VJ Guabiru.