How 100 Dias recreated an Atlantic crossing using the sea and a large filming tank
Carlos Saldanha describes the different roles of a week at sea, studio scenes and visual effects in the film about Amyr Klink.
100 Dias opened in Brazilian theaters on October 29, 2026. To tell the story of Amyr Klink’s solo rowing crossing of the South Atlantic, the production had to decide what to film at sea and what to move into controlled conditions.
Speaking to Omelete, director Carlos Saldanha said the team spent a week filming at sea with Filipe Bragança, who plays Klink, rowing the boat. The director explained that numerous variables kept events from unfolding exactly as planned.
Studio filming posed a different challenge: building a tank of that scale in Brazil. Saldanha singled out storms and night scenes as important sequences to shoot there. The project also required visual effects to recreate the sea. The methods served different needs: real conditions on the water, control over a scene and the construction of the ocean environment on screen.
The film adapts Klink’s account in Cem Dias Entre Céu e Mar. In 1984 he set out from Africa and rowed alone across the South Atlantic, reaching Bahia after 100 days. That journey helps explain the challenge of retaining a sense of isolation without leaving every sequence to natural conditions.
The production story is therefore less about choosing between practical filming and effects than understanding what each contributes. The pressure of the sea comes through a combination of location work, studio facilities and post-production.
