Kleber Mendonça Filho


Kleber de Mendonça Vasconcellos Filho is a Brazilian film director, screenwriter and producer. Having initiated his career as a movie critic, he transitioned to filmmaking in 2002, initially directing short films and documentaries. In 2012, his narrative feature debut Neighboring Sounds was included by The New York Times in its best-of-the-year list.
His following films, Aquarius and Bacurau, were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, while the latter won the Jury Prize in Cannes. For The Secret Agent, Mendonça Filho won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival, and Best Non-English Language Film at the 83rd Golden Globes Awards, while the film was also nominated for Best Picture and Best International Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

Early life

With a degree in journalism from the Federal University of Pernambuco, Kleber Mendonça Filho began his career as a film critic and journalist. He wrote for newspapers such as Jornal do Commercio and Folha de S. Paulo, for magazines such as Continente and Cinética, and for his own site, CinemaScópio.
Mendonça's films have received more than 120 awards in Brazil and abroad, with selections in festivals such as New York, Copenhagen and Cannes. Film festivals in Rotterdam, Toulouse, and Santa Maria da Feira have presented retrospectives of his films. He has served as programmer of cinema for the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation.

Career

Having initiated his career as a movie critic, Mendonça transitioned to the filmmaking in 2002, initially directing short films and documentaries. He migrated from video to digital and 35mm film in the 2000s. Over the course of that decade, he made several short films, including A Menina do Algodão, Vinil Verde, Eletrodoméstica, Noite de Sexta Manhã de Sábado, and Recife Frio, as well as a feature-length documentary, Crítico.
Neighbouring Sounds was Mendonça's first feature-length drama, winning numerous awards. Film critic AO Scott of The New York Times included it in his list of the 10 best films of 2012. Caetano Veloso, in his column in the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, classified it as "one of the best movies made recently in the world ". The film was selected as the Brazilian submission for the 86th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not nominated.
His second feature film, Aquarius, had its world premiere at the main competition of the 69th Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, he was the jury president of the Critics' Week section of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.
His third feature film, Bacurau, co-written and co-directed with Juliano Dornelles, won the Jury Prize at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, alongside Ladj Ly's Les Misérables. In 2020, he was a member of the main competition jury of the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. The following year, he was a member of the main competition jury of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
His second documentary feature, Pictures of Ghosts had its world premiere at the Special Screenings section of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Brazilian submission for the 96th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. In 2024, he was a member of the main competition jury of the 81st Venice International Film Festival.
The Secret Agent, his fourth feature film, had its world premiered at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where Mendonça was awarded the Best Director prize, alongside the Best Actor prize for Wagner Moura. It was nominated for Best International Film as the Brazilian submission at the 98th Academy Awards, alongside other three nominations including Best Picture.

Personal life

Mendonça is married to French producer Emilie Lesclaux. Together they created the production company CinemaScópio.

Political beliefs

During the world premiere of Aquarius at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Mendonça and the film's cast showed protest signs written in Portuguese, English and French criticizing the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff. The signs included messages such as "Brazil is not a democracy anymore", "Sauvez la démocratie brésilienne", and "Dilma, vamos resistir com você". Dilma was later removed from power. Her successor, right-wing politician Michel Temer, through his Ministry of Culture Oscar submission committee, boycotted Aquarius during the selection process for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, which was seen as an act of retaliation following the Cannes protest.
During the far-right Jair Bolsonaro government, Bacurau was also not selected as the Brazilian official submission for the 92nd Academy Awards, creating further controversy around a supposed political boycott of Mendonça's films.
In 2021, he announced his membership in the Workers' Party, the centre-left party led by Lula.
In 2025, Mendonça and more than 350 directors, actors and producers, signed a letter denouncing the ongoing genocide in Gaza, stating: "We cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza".

Filmography

Feature films

Documentaries

Short films

Awards and nominations

For Aquarius, Mendonça Filho was nominated for Best International Film at the 32nd Independent Spirit Awards and for the César Award for Best Foreign Film.
For Bacurau, he was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Jury Prize in Cannes and the NYFCC Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
For The Secret Agent, Mendonça Filho won the Best Director award and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film at Cannes, the NYFCC Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 51st Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, where he also was the runner-up for Best Picture. At the 83rd Golden Globes Awards, the film was the first Brazilian production to be nominated for Best Motion Picture and won Best Foreign Language Film. At the 79th British Academy Film Awards, the film received nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Not in the English Language. At the 98th Academy Awards, it was nominated for Best Picture marking the second year in a row that a Brazilian feature film was nominated in the category following I'm Still Here, it was also nominated for Best International Film representing Brazil.
OrganizationsYearCategoryWorkResultRef.
British Academy Film Awards2026Best Original ScreenplayThe Secret Agent
Cannes Film Festival2016Palme d'OrAquariusNomitated
Cannes Film Festival2019Palme d'OrBacurauNomitated
Cannes Film Festival2019Jury PrizeBacurauWon
Cannes Film Festival2023L'Œil d'orPictures of GhostsNomitated
Cannes Film Festival2025Palme d'OrThe Secret Agent
Cannes Film Festival2025Best DirectorThe Secret AgentWon
Cannes Film Festival2025FIPRESCI PrizeThe Secret AgentWon
Cannes Film Festival2025Art House Cinema AwardThe Secret AgentWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2011Best Short FilmCold TropicsWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2014Best FilmNeighboring SoundsWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2014Best DirectorNeighboring SoundsNomitated
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2014Best Original ScreenplayNeighboring SoundsWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2014Best EditingNeighboring SoundsNomitated
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2017Best FilmAquariusWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2017Best DirectorAquariusWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2017Best Original ScreenplayAquariusNomitated
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2020Best FilmBacurauWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2020Best DirectorBacurauWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2020Best Original ScreenplayBacurauWon
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2024Best DocumentaryPictures of GhostsNomitated
Brazilian Academy Film Awards2024Best DirectorPictures of GhostsNomitated
Chicago International Film Festival2025Golden Hugo for Best FilmThe Secret AgentNomitated
Critics Choice Awards Celebration of Cinema & Television2025Director AwardThe Secret AgentWon
César Awards2017Best Foreign FilmAquariusNomitated
Film Independent Spirit Awards2017Best International FilmAquariusNomitated
Film Independent Spirit Awards2020Best International FilmBacurauNomitated
Film Independent Spirit Awards2025Best International FilmThe Secret Agent
Golden Globe Awards2026Best Foreign Language FilmThe Secret AgentWon
Gotham Awards2020Best International FeatureBacurauNomitated
Gotham Awards2020Audience AwardBacurauNomitated
Gotham Awards2025Best Original ScreenplayThe Secret AgentNomitated
Gramado Film Festival2012Golden KikitoNeighboring SoundsNomitated
Gramado Film Festival2012Best DirectorNeighboring SoundsWon
Gramado Film Festival2012Best SoundNeighboring SoundsWon
Gramado Film Festival2012Critics PrizeNeighboring SoundsWon
Gramado Film Festival2012Audience AwardNeighboring SoundsWon
International Federation of Film Critics2025Grand Prix for Best Film of the YearThe Secret AgentNomitated
Lima Film Festival2016Jury AwardAquariusWon
Lima Film Festival2019Trophy SpondylusBacurauWon
Lima Film Festival2019Best DirectorBacurauWon
Lima Film Festival2023Trophy Spondylus Pictures of GhostsWon
Lima Film Festival2025Trophy SpondylusThe Secret AgentWon
New York Film Critics Circle2020Best Foreign Language FilmBacurauWon
New York Film Critics Circle2025Best Foreign Language FilmThe Secret AgentWon
Rotterdam International Film Festival2012Tiger AwardNeighboring SoundsNomitated
Rotterdam International Film Festival2012FIPRESCI PrizeNeighboring SoundsNomitated
Sitges Film Festival2019Fantàstic Competition Best FilmBacurauNomitated
Sitges Film Festival2019Fantàstic Competition Best DirectorBacurauWon
Sitges Film Festival2019Critics Award Best FilmBacurauWon
Sitges Film Festival2019Carnet Jove Jury AwardBacurauWon
Toronto Film Critics Association2020Best Foreign Language FilmBacurauWon