Despite now living in Rio de Janeiro, Sampaio loves the capital of Brazil, Brasília, where he was born, and chose it as the setting for most of his films. "Brasília does not leave me. It's been a character in all of my movies", he once said.
After the success of "Faroeste Caboclo" and "Eduardo and Mônica", René Sampaio intends to accomplish a trilogy of films inspired by Renato Russo's songs. However, it is a mystery what the inspirational music of this third adaptation will be.
At age 14, René was a big fan of the band Legião Urbana and when he heard the 9-minute long song "Faroeste Caboclo", he prophesied that one day he would make a movie with that story. Almost 30 years later, he released the award-winning "Brazilian Western".
René Sampaio is a journalist/publicist graduated from the national university of Brasilia (UNB). His father was a renowned journalist.