The director of The Secret Agent’s jab at Globo soap operas · TV News

Filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho, known for not being afraid to take a stand, defended himself from criticism about his filmography last Tuesday (28) at the premiere of The Secret Agent, in São Paulo. The Pernambuco native countered comments that his films would be too “regional”, and highlighted that Globo’s soap operas –although almost always set in Rio de Janeiro–, are not described in the same way.

“I never saw myself and considered myself as regional. I am part of Brazil (…) Brazil needs to listen to itself more. There is a whole assembly of our country, which was an economic, political and cultural assembly, which gave a lot of strength to what is done in the Southeast”, explained the director of the feature film representing Brazil in the race for the Oscar.

And during the conversation with the press, Kleber Mendonça Filho also added. “My point of view is Brazilian, based in Recife, Pernambuco, so I don’t think it makes any sense to call anything that is not from the Southeast region regional,” said the filmmaker of films such as Bacurau (2019) and Aquarius (2016).

In fact, for me, regional were the Globo soap operas that I grew up watching. They were regional because they took place in Barra de Tijuca and I didn’t know what Barra da Tijuca was. Must be an interesting region

Chosen to represent Brazil at the 2026 Oscars, the film The Secret Agent began its journey towards the most important award in the seventh art with a shock of reality. Also on Tuesday, the announcement of the nominees for the Gotham Awards, which focuses on independent cinema, brought two good news for the film, but some surprising setbacks.

The production directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho received important nominations for the award: the filmmaker was remembered for the original script, while the protagonist Wagner Moura competes for best performance. On the other hand, the Brazilian film did not appear among the nominees for best international film — which could hinder its chances of getting an Oscar nomination in the same category next year.

Gotham Awards voters opted for the productions It Was Just an Accident (France), No Other Choice (South Korea), Sound of Falling (Germany), Resurrection and Nouvelle Vague — the last two productions were not selected to represent any country at the 2026 Oscars, which gives a glimmer of hope for Brazil.

It is worth remembering that, this year, I’m Still Here was not nominated for any Gotham Awards, but it still won the Oscar for best international film, in addition to earning a nomination for Fernanda Torres as best actress. In other words: the award is a thermometer, but not a sentence.

The winners of the Gotham Awards will be announced at a ceremony scheduled to take place on December 1st, in New York, USA. The 2026 Oscars take place on March 15th.