Dhruv Sharma
Netflix’s 3% is a character-driven dystopian drama in which most of the world’s population lives in impoverished conditions in a small area called the Inland. Meanwhile, the few elites live luxurious lives in the Offshore virtual paradise. In an annual event, the 20-year-olds of Inland get the opportunity to move to the Offshore area by qualifying for a series of tests. Unfortunately for them, only 3% of the candidates can clear the tests.
Brazil’s ‘3%’ received critical acclaim not only for its depiction of a world with hefty class divides but also for the depth that it manages to achieve through its character arcs. Also, even its set designs and filming locations perfectly embody its gritty dystopian themes. So, if you’re wondering where the filming occurred, here’s everything you need to know.
3% Filming Locations
Pedro Aguilera, the writer and creator of ‘3%,’ first developed the series from a 2009 independent pilot episode. Soon after this, Netflix gave it an 8-episode order, making it the first Portuguese Netflix original and the second non-English production on Netflix after Mexican comedy-drama series ‘Club de Cuervos.’ According to a local news source, Netflix first announced the filming of the series in São Paulo, Brazil, on March 11, 2016.
São Paulo, Brazil
For season 1, the primary filming locations for the series were the interiors of Arena Corinthians, Brazil’s fifth-largest sports stadium located in São Paulo. The series’ filming primarily took place in the western part of the same stadium, which was transformed into the show’s “The Process” building. The reason why the creators of the show specifically used the western section of the stadium and not the lawns or arena bleachers is that only the west section had this luxurious, marble finish appeal that came in tandem with the demands of the creators.
The city of São Paulo consists of 96 different districts, among which, the neighborhood of Brás was used for building an entire favela in a large abandoned factory. A favela is nothing but a low-income slum neighborhood in Brazil. So clearly, the creators of the show put a lot of effort into its set designs. Now, if you’ve already watched the series, you’ll be able to recall that it takes place in a world divided into two sections—”Inland” and “Offshore.” The scenes depicting Inland were primarily shot in the artificial favela created in Brás. Along with that, other neighborhoods such as Heliópolis, Vila Madalena, Parque da Juventude, and Ocupação Cine Marrocos were also used for the portrayal of the outskirts of Inland.
Regarding the depiction of the second season’s “Offshore,” the creators mostly filmed the series at the Inhotim Institute in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, which is known to be one of the largest foundations of contemporary art in Brazil. For the most part, the central gardens of the institute served as the show’s backdrop, and the statue of the “Founding Couple” that we see in the series is purely CGI. Along with this, three other pavilions— Adriana Varejão Pavillion, Cosmococas, by Hélio Oiticica, and Sonic Pavillion, by Doug Aitken —of the same institute were also used. In season 3, the show adds a new location called “Concha” to its universe. The scenes depicting this new addition were primarily shot in Dunas do Rosado’s conservation unit at Porto do Mangue, Rio Grande do Norte.
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