A new immersive documentary takes viewers into the heart of the action at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Made by the Abdala Brothers and starring Felipe Nasr, 2DIE4 is a must-see for racing fans.
2DIE4 is a film like no other. Shot in real time, it fuses feature-film storytelling with unscripted reality to take viewers deep into the heart of racing.
Filmed at the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, it follows
The unscripted film captures every moment, a thrilling 60-minute adventure behind-the-scenes. Viewers see the race through Nasr’s eyes, on and off-track, as he seeks to accomplish his biggest goal.
Made by brothers Salomão and André Abdala, 2DIE4 makes history as the first IMAX release by Brazilian directors, and establishes its directors as the youngest filmmakers ever to direct a feature conceived for IMAX.
The film was screened during the run-up to this year’s 24 Hours of Daytona, but a further rollout across other cities in the US, Brazil and hopefully worldwide will follow. It has already won the best documentary feature award at the 2025 Motor Sports Film Awards.
The journey began over dinner in São Paulo. Nasr knew the Abdala brothers through their commercial work for Porsche Brazil, and was aware of their ambition to create their first-ever feature film. Quickly, an off-the-cuff invite became a huge project.
“We just went for some burgers and the next race was the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” Nasr explains.
“This is the biggest race for us on the stage of endurance racing, this is the global stage for us for sure They had heard of it - they’re fanatical about the movie Grand Prix, from back in the 60s - so they knew the story about Le Mans, and they said what if we go there and we start shooting it and we do a documentary out of it?
“I said, well guys, I'll be there to focus on my job, but if you want to take this further, I can connect you to everybody within Porsche Motorsport, and PPM [Porsche Penske Motorsport], and there you go, that’s how it started.”
The Abdala Brothers quickly assembled a crew of just eight people - a necessary limit given the restrictions on personnel at Le Mans - and set about working on preparations.
Salomão Abdala reached out to Panavision to develop a custom, lightweight camera package: 8K cinema bodies capable of high-speed shooting.
The film was shot using the legendary System 65, a lens set so rare that only two exist in the world, and the same lenses blockbuster director Christopher Nolan used in Oppenheimer.
From 43 hours of raw footage, the team whittled it down to just 60-minutes, condensing all the action and emotion of the Le Mans race week into a feature film.
Nasr is thrilled with the result: “They made it happen, which was phenomenal. I knew the talent they had, the way they capture things, they can bring the adrenaline.
“They can have their own eyes, and they can bring deeper insights of the race driver, what goes on in your mindset.
“That’s exactly what 2DIE4 is - it’s the racing essence behind the wheel, everything you're gonna capture and feel being a race driver, driving a car over 300 KPH, and what goes on in his mind, what he told to the team, and being outside of the car, what does he do?
“He gets some recovery, he eats something. You find out everything that goes on behind the scenes and in the race seat at the same time. It was just an incredible work they've done, and it shows the desire of a race driver to win, regardless of whatever happens.”
He adds: “The quality of the images, the quality of the scenes, when the cars are flying past the Mulsanne Chicane, you will see something unforgettable. The lighting, the speed of the car, the sound.
“I know they did a lot of work on the sound system where you can capture inside the car and the same time if I'm talking to myself. So you hear both internally and externally what the sounds are, they've done a fantastic job.
“The good thing about the movie is I think it's gonna go beyond what we just know as racing platforms, it's gonna go to the cinema, so people who are interested in cinema, they're gonna start understanding more and more about endurance racing.
“So I think it's great for the brands, for everybody that is involved, for us drivers, for Porsche, for all all of our sponsors, I think it will bring more awareness into this series and to what we do on and off the track.”
The film is a refreshingly honest portrayal of the reality of racing, capturing raw moments amid the rollercoaster of emotion that is the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In practice, Nasr topped the timesheet with the fastest lap of the field. But in a cruel twist of fate, a mechanical issue during qualifying relegated the car he shared with Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy to 20th on the grid - the back of the Hypercar class.
The ensuing battle makes for captivating viewing, with a unique insight into the psyche of the driver as they undergo an enormous personal and professional challenge.
Despite the high-pressure environment, Nasr says it was “very easy for me to participate, because all they told me was “Felipe, you won't ever see us filming you. If you see us, just ignore us, because you have to focus on your job”.
He says: “So there were no second takes, just whatever happened at the track that day, and the weekend as the race went on, it was caught on film. The only part we had to produce was one of the scenes when the car was in the garage around midnight - that was the only time we could shoot some scenes as I was walking around the car and just looking more introspective like I was thinking ahead of the race.
“Everything else, whenever I went to the motor home or went to get some sleep or some food, they were there hiding somewhere and trying to capture something. Even very private talks I had to the team or private talks I had to my father, just like a father and son moment, they were able to capture that.
“I had no idea they were filming it. So I think it captures pure racing, there is no Hollywood predictable story, and that's what I love about it.
“There is no such explanation what's going to happen next. It's just you stay in the moment and it's intense, it's a one hour duration, and it keeps you on the on the seat all the time.”
2DIE4 will premiere on April 30 in Brazil in IMAX.
To find a screening near you, visit the film’s
