Acclaimed Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho is hoping to repeat his partnership with Neon for his next film after a “really great” year with “The Secret Agent.” The director spoke at length at this year’s Projeto Paradiso National Talent Network Meeting in his hometown of Recife, along with his producing partner Emily Lesclaw, praising America’s major distributors.
In an onstage conversation with Variety, Mendonça Filho reflected on the intense year he spent promoting his films, which earned him four Oscar nominations and two Cannes Awards. “I’m very curious about walking in the movie space. I have no problem giving interviews, I try not to repeat myself, and I love to travel. Nobody travels like us (on The Secret Agent), but it made a big difference.”
The director revealed that he is currently writing a book about his “crazy” experience promoting the film around the world. “It’s not every year that I get to walk through this film space like this and get to know about commercial films, luxury films, screening rooms, festivals, critics and audiences. It was a great experience and Neon did a great job. I hope my next film will be shown at Neon as well. You never know what will happen, but working with a big name like Neon has made a big difference.”
Laura Caster
Asked what it was like to work so hard within America’s huge awards system, the “Aquarius” director said it was a “very special” experience. “But at the end of the day, we’re dealing with people, and they’re people who love movies.” “Neon allows them to make movies a viable business, but they’re also movie people. They love ‘The Secret Agent,’ and we’ve had a really fun, smart, entertaining relationship for 10 months.”
Mendonça Filho also wanted to find out why he and Lesclaw “don’t have many partners to choose from.” “I didn’t choose Neon, they chose me. We’ve worked with smaller distributors before and had great experience. But if people are interested in your work and Neon is an option, it’s not even an option.”
There was still talk of finding the right collaborators, but the director recalled that after a quick lunch in Cannes in 2023, he knew MK2 was the right production partner for The Secret Agent. We had a 90 minute lunch and that was it. It’s also a question of chemistry. ”
After the astronomical success of the genre-bending period film, Mendonça Filho’s inbox is full of meeting requests and scripts. “I get so many requests for international projects, and I’m totally open to it,” he says. “I like the idea of making a movie, but I don’t know if it will happen. It won’t happen, but I’m already thinking about the next movie. It might be set in Recife in the 1930s.”
Kleber Mendonça Filho and Emily Lesclaw, provided by Mario Anzuoni/Reuters
From the stage in Recife, Lesclaw spoke about his time as a producer in Recife, praising how the local film community supported each other before regional incentives were first introduced in 2008. The leading producer of Cinemascopio is currently one of the largest producers in the country and is highly acclaimed internationally. Projeto Paradiso events will have an urgent need to find more in-demand talent.
Lesclaw said that because Cinemascopio is a “very small organization,” he can’t make as many projects as he would like, but he loves “discovering new talent and working with great people.” The French producer is currently producing a new feature from The Secret Agent assistant director Leonardo Racca, the latest from The Fever director Maya Darling, and Helene Beltrame-Linnaé’s feature debut. This hybrid film is loosely inspired by a lawyer’s unlikely experience becoming chairman of the Bergman Foundation in Sweden.
When asked how he manages to work on so many projects in parallel, the Oscar-nominated producer said it’s a “balancing act” as he meticulously works on every Mendonça Filho film from the initial seed of inspiration. “It’s not easy being a producer and managing multiple projects while making a movie like The Secret Agent. There are so many.”
Regarding his interest in continuing to establish international co-productions, Lesclaw recalled that he launched his first major co-production with 2016’s “Aquarius” after being approached by Tunisian-French director Said Ben Said. “It was a natural progression that it started with ‘Aquarius’ because Kleber met a French producer who was interested in his work after ‘Neighboring Sound’ and wanted to work with us. We were contacted directly. Then we needed money and… Our project got bigger and we had to cut the budget. But in addition to the financing aspect, there was also the enrichment of getting to know other professionals from all over the world that we wanted to work with. I love doing post-production in different countries. ”
“In some cases, it can be a very complicated process,” she added. “It’s a very bureaucratic and slow process that can take years and is very difficult. But for example, on ‘The Secret Agent’ we worked with four countries (Brazil, France, Germany and the Netherlands) and it was a very positive and enriching experience.”
