Oscar-nominated Italian producer Donatella Palermo has joined Eryk Rocha's highly anticipated documentary "Elza" as a production associate. The film will have its world premiere at the Rio Film Festival before heading to the Rome Film Festival, chronicling the life and seven-decade career of legendary Brazilian singer Elza Soares, regarded as the BBC's "Voice of the Millennium" and a global symbol of artistic freedom and resilience.

The documentary, filmed over eight years, draws on rare archival materials and intimate conversations between Soares and Rocha during the final years of her life, allowing the icon to tell her own story. Soares, who passed away in 2022, collaborated with defining figures in international music including Louis Armstrong, whom she met in Chile in 1962, Ella Fitzgerald, and Astor Piazzolla, transcending genres and national borders to become an enduring symbol of Black women's artistic contributions. The project has backing from prominent production companies including Aruac Filmes, Maria Farinha Filmes, Globo Filmes, and RAI Cinema, with funding from the Brazilian Federal Government and institutional support from the Ministry of Culture.