Appointed to the Golden Palm, the new Kleber Mendonça Filho film captured the festival and leaves the festival with two closed distribution agreements.
This Saturday (24/5), The secret agentThe new feature of Pernambuco Kleber Mendonça Filho is responsible for Palma de Ouro, the main prize of the Cannes Film Festival in France.
Even if he does not take the official competition trophy, the film has already reached important brands at the Festival. At the debut session on May 18, he was rejoiced with more than ten minutes of applause.
The function also came out of the event with two closed distribution agreements. Neon, who launched Parasite AND Anatomy of a fallHe is now responsible for the American distribution of The secret agent. Mubi, which he distributed AnoreHe will be responsible for the exhibition in the United Kingdom, India and Latin America, except Brazil.
Mendonça Filho is already a consolidated name in Cannes. Your last three films – Acquarium (2016), Bacurau (2019) e Ghost portraits (2023) – They were shown at the Festival. BacurauHe also won the Jury Award, the third most important category of the official competition.
Set in Recife in 1977, during the Brazilian military dictatorship, The secret agent Accompanying Marcelo, played by Wagner Moura, a technology expert who returns to Recife after years was looking for peace. But he discovers that his hometown hides disturbing dangers and secrets.
The welcome of the criticism has been praised. Variety highlighted the director’s ability to “bring us back to that time, with its oppressive warmth and paranoia”. The critic of BBC Nicholas Barber raised the film as a stylus and a lively political thriller and a possible Oscar candidate.
The expectation for the title in Cannes designed from the Opera Assembly, according to Silvia Cruz, founder of Showcase Filmas, who distributes the director’s films in Brazil since 2016.
“From the beginning, we have already thought that this would be the first festival that we would have tried, both for the story of other Kleber films [no evento] As for the final program, perfect for being ready in time, “he says.
The Festival requires that the film is unprecedented, that is, it has never been screened in other international festivals or on the Internet to participate in the competition for the Palm d’Oro.
“Cannes is a powerful showcase. Entering this festival certainly offers visibility. Being in Cannes already guides the entire career of the film.”
Frevo na croisette
One of the most commented moments of the Festival was the passage of the popular orchestra of Recife and the warriors of the group step by the red carpet.
The video of the procession of the passages with the Brazilian entourage, including the actor Wagner Moura – protagonist of the film – risking the steps of Frevo, became viral on social networks.
The proposal to bring Frevo to the famous Croisette Avenue came from the distribution team of the films of vitrine during the meeting of The secret agent.
“One day this idea came to me: ‘And if we did a carnival in Cannes?’,” Says Bernardo Lesa, head of the distributor launch.
“We already knew that Brazil would be the honored country of the year. We had some favorable nominations. We tried several brands, several partners: we received a lot of” no “. But we didn’t want to give up because we knew that it could work.”
The plan took shape with the sponsorship of Embratur, the secretariat of Culture Pernambuco and the Sol de Janeiro brand.
“Nobody in the band had a passport. The confirmation of the investment came shortly before, so we had to run with everything. It was not only to bring the band, but to bring the culture: the shot, the music, the rows frevo. It was an entire production. And the result was much bigger than we expected,” says Lessa.
“It was very good for the film – The reception was excellent. It has already been purchased by Neon and Mubi. This is fantastic because it already gives the producers a guarantee of return and financial distribution. Especially in the United States, where, when we talk about the largest prizes, it is very important to have an American distributor,” he explains.
The intervention on the red carpet is not new, also to promote political messages. Kleber Mendonça Filho himself, at the launch of AcquariumHe used Cannes’s privileged space to protest against Dilma Rousseff’s Empaining in 2016.
Digital marketing is a tool used to expand the distribution of the film, says the journalist Ana Paula Sousa, a researcher and editorialist specialized in culture.
“From the moment the film brings Frevo to the red carpet, it increases the possibility of going out into a vehicle in another country to talk about it. In the end, the distributor of another country will be interested in the film,” he says.
“We lived the age of social networks. And I think Kleber, although a director connected to what is often called” cinema author “, has long shown that he knows how to deal with networks very well.”
The strategy, according to Sousa, still sharpens the curiosity of the public who, even before the launch of the first trailer, is already talking about production.
“A film is made to be seen by a different audience – but always to be seen. He must mobilize the attention of the public,” he says.
Remember that the success campaign of I’m still herewho won the Oscar for the best international film and brought almost 6 million Brazilians in cinemas, began at the Venice Festival.
“It is natural that Kleber’s film also tries to take advantage of this good moment of Brazilian cinema,” says the researcher.
“It is not that this strategy creates things that do not exist, but uses the real elements to increase visibility around the film and arouse interest.”
Why does Cannes count?
Ana Paula Sousa states that national selection is a “conquest comparable to an Olympic final”.
The visibility acquired in Cannes often translates into new opportunities for films produced outside the five largest film studies: Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney and Sony.
“There is no festival in the world with so much print. Nobody has a volume of published articles as big as Cannes,” he says.
In addition to glamor, Cannes is the market. Marché du Film, The Festival’s Market Event, is the largest center for the purchase and sale of cinematographic rights in the world.
“Cannes is still the showcase of the main cinema for non -Hollywood films. And this goes beyond art cinema,” he explains.
“Franchising already have a guaranteed distribution. But in the market in which a company produces and another distributes, Cannes remains a mecca.”
He underlines that the international prestige also reverberates in the internal market. “It may seem colonial to need this external validation, but they are also natural. People think:” If you are attracting the attention of so many people, it must be interesting. “”
Burden as a strategy
Distribution is one of the most decisive phases of the audiovisual production chain, says researcher Hadija Chalupe Da Silva, film and audiovisual professor at Espm Rio and author of the book The film on screens – The distribution of national cinema.
In his research, Silva has proposed four main cinematographic marketing modes in Brazil: large exit, medium output, niche exit and export. Despite the overlap, these strategies help to understand how the films are positioned on the market.
“In the success model, the film is released simultaneously in many rooms to attract the public at the beginning, to avoid piracy and quickly recover the investment,” he says.
“But this requires many investments. In Brazil, competing on the same with Hollywood is always a challenge.”
Already the release of the niche follows the opposite logic: bet on “long tail”, with less copies and greater stay in the poster. Success depends on the mouth mouth and initial reception.
“The first week is crucial. The rooms compare the occupation with the average of the previous year. If the film reaches or exceeds this average, it remains on display”, the researcher details.
Therefore, the film festivals are crucial: they are prestige and expand the possibilities of circulation of Brazilian films.
“Festivals are spaces for the discovery. They reveal new filmmakers and works with the impact potential on cinematography,” he says. “Depending on where the film is under screening, he gets Seal, gets the legitimacy.”
For movies such as The secret agentThe noise in Cannes is another strategy. “There are thousands of meme. And all this are spontaneous media. This helps a lot,” says Silva. “It is the digital mouth, the buzz that precedes the debut and expands the range.”
With social networks, the bet is also involved. “Today, this conversation can start well before. This universe of curiosity and relationship with the public is created even before launch,” says the teacher.
The national debut of The secret agent It is scheduled for the second half of 2025
“We want to continue doing different things. Because the distribution model, especially for cinemas, has changed a lot,” says Bernardo Lesa.
“The public has all the content of the world in the palm of the hand. We must change the ways to convince him to leave the house.”
Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
