Filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian movie, The Secret Agent, which has been rumored to be a finalist for the Palme d’or, is having its stateside rights scooped up by NEON. A theatrical release is in the works for later this year.
If the 1977 set political thriller takes home the Cannes big prize, it will give NEON its sixth straight Palme d’or win following last year’s Anora, and then Justine Triet’s 2023 Anatomy Of A Fall, 2022’s Triangle Of Sadness, 2021’s Titane and 2019’s Parasite. Out of that bunch, Anora and Parasite won Best Pictures Oscars.
The Secret Agent premiered In Competition at Cannes on Sunday, May 18 to 100% fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The pic stars Wagner Moura, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leon, Carlos Francisco, Alice Carvalho, and Hermila Guedes,
Set in Recife, Brazil in 1977, The Secret Agent follows Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a technology expert in his early 40s, on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks.
The film was produced by Emilie Lesclaux. Co-producers include Nathanaël Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz, Fionnuala Jamison, Olivier Barbier, Leontine Petit, Erik Glijnis, Fred Burke and Sol Bondy. It is a Cinemasópio, MK Productions, Lemming Film and One Two Films presentation. MK2 Films is repping foreign sales.
The deal was negotiated by NEON’s Sarah Colvin and Jeff Deutchman with MK2 Films’ Fionnuala Jamison on behalf of the filmmakers.
The Secret Agent is Filho’s third film to premiere In Competition at the Cannes Film Festival, following Aquarius in 2016 and Bacurau which he co-wrote and co-directed with Juliano Dornelles and won the Prix du Jury in 2019. In 2017, he served as the jury president of the Critics’ Week section at Cannes and his second documentary Pictures of Ghosts premiered in the Special Screenings section at the 2023 festival.
Here at the fest, NEON is world premiering Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value tonight, and premiered Julia Ducournau’s Alpha in competition, as well as Raoul Peck’s Orwell: 2+2=5, and Michael Angelo Covino’s Splitsville starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona.
