Brazil to Pick ‘The Secret Agent’ as Best International Film Submission for the Oscars

Brazil has officially selected Kleber Mendonça Filho‘s The Secret Agent as its official submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards. Written and directed by Mendonça Filho, the film stars Wagner Moura as a researcher on the hunt by the Brazilian government during the military dictatorship in the 1970s.

He returns to Recife in the hopes that he will reunite with his son, Armando, but quickly realizes he is a target of corrupt police officers, who attempt to silence him. The film received rave reviews from critics after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where NEON acquired domestic distribution rights to the picture.

It also won two awards during the festival, Best Actor for Wagner Moura, and Best Director for Kleber Mendonça Filho, the first Brazilian filmmaker to win the prize since Glauber Rocha in 1969 for O Dragão da Maldade contra o Santo Guerreiro. The first shortlist of 15 films vying for the award will be announced on December 16, followed by the nominations on January 22.

Source: THR