The Brazilian film O Agente Secreto, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, won the Best Director award at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in France. Actor Wagner Moura, the film’s protagonist, was also awarded Best Actor.
Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film was also one of the favorites to win the Palme d’Or, Cannes’ top prize, but the winner was the feature film A Simple Accident, by dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.
O Agente Secreto had its world premiere at the festival on May 18, when it was ovationed with more than 10 minutes of applause. On social media, Culture Minister Margareth Menezes congratulated Kleber Mendonça Filho and Wagner Moura for the awards.
“Two Brazilian giants making history at Cannes! Congratulations to Wagner Moura, Best Actor, and Kleber Mendonça Filho, Best Director, for the recognition at the world’s biggest film festival! Brazil celebrates you! Our cinema is living a new era,” wrote the minister on social network X.
Kleber Mendonça Filho also directed acclaimed films such as Aquarius (2016), which had its world premiere in Cannes in 2016, and Bacurau (2019). Both competed for the Palme d’Or.
During the screening of Aquarius, the film’s team protested the removal from office of then-President Dilma Rousseff.
On that occasion, while walking the red carpet, Kleber Mendonça Filho, accompanied by Brazilian actresses Maeve Jinkings and Sônia Braga, as well as actress Barbara Colen, producer Emilie Lesclaux, and guests, held up posters with phrases like: “A coup d’état occurred in Brazil,” “Brazil is experiencing a coup d’état,” “The world cannot accept an illegitimate government,” and “54,501,118 votes burned!”.
A few days earlier, the Senate had approved the admissibility of Dilma’s impeachment proceedings, removing her from office for up to 180 days until the merits of the impeachment were voted on.
Bacurau, directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles, won the Jury Prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film tied for first place with the French production Les Misérables, by Ladj Ly.
The fiction film is set in a village in the hinterlands called Bacurau, and its pivotal event is the death of a well-known resident, Dona Carmelita. From this episode, the plot unfolds, sparking unexpected events.
Lula congratulates
President Lula celebrated the Best Director and Best Actor awards for O Agente Secreto. The President of the Republic congratulated Kleber Mendonça Filho and Wagner Moura for their achievements.
“Today is a day to feel even more proud to be Brazilian. To celebrate the recognition our art receives around the world. And to enjoy the happiness of living in a country with giants the caliber of @kmendoncafilho and Wagner Moura,” wrote the president, who also said that the two awards show that Brazilian cinema “owes nothing to anyone.”
“The two awards that O Agente Secreto won earlier at the Cannes Festival – Best Director and Best Actor – show that the cinema of our country owes nothing to anyone. And that we will continue enchanting audiences and critics around the planet with films that showcase our talent, our culture, and important chapters of our own history,” concluded Lula on his social media profile.
Source: Agencia Brasil