Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent has been submitted as Brazil’s entry in the Best International Feature Film category at the 98th Annual Academy Awards.
The film was selected this afternoon by the Brazilian Film Academy.
Secret Agent is directed by Wagner Moura and also stars Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leon, Carlos Francisco, Alise Carvalho, and Hermila Guedes. 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.
The synopsis of the film reads as follows: Brazil, 1977. MARCELO, a tech expert in his early 40s, is on the run. During Carnival week, he arrives in Recife hoping to reunite with his son, but soon realizes that the city is not the violent refuge he seeks.
The Secret Agent debuted at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, where it won Best Actor for Moura and Best Director for Filho, who is best known for his recent fantasy feature, Bacurau Apvidou. The film debuted in competition at Cannes in 2018 and won the Jury Prize. His most recent feature was Retratos Fantasmas, a documentary that debuted at Cannes in 2023.
Neon will release the film in the United States. Mubi has rights in the UK, Ireland, India and Latin America, excluding Brazil.
Brazil picked up the Oscar for best international feature film last year for I’m Still Here in the Field. The decision of who will represent Brazil at the 98th Academy Awards has been a hot-button topic in the country. Filho’s Secret Agent has been the obvious frontrunner with two Cannes wins. However, Mascaro’s The Blue Trail has been a domestic box office hit. And Marianne Brennand’s debut feature My Own was given a recent boost when Sean Penn joined the production as an executive producer alongside Salles and two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, and I’m Still Here producer Maria Carlota Bruno.
In a Sunday Instagram post, I’m Still Here star Fernanda Torres praised the strong set of submissions, enthusing: “Brazilian cinema has been reborn like a phoenix.” Word-checking The Blue Trail and Manas Torres said her personal pick is for Secret Agent In the Field.
The AMPA will announce the category selections on December 16, with nominations announced on January 22, 2026. The 98th Academy Awards will be held on March 15, 2026.
