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In 1977, under Brazil’s dictatorship, a widowed dissident flees a corrupt official and returns to Recife during Carnival to reunite with his son. Hunted by two assassins and aided by a benefactor, he discovers his hometown is far deadlier than he ever imagined. (Description by NEON)

Kleber Mendonça Filho was born in Recife, in north-east Brazil. A graduate in journalism from the Federal University of Pernambuco, he has had a long career as a film critic and programmer.

He oversaw the cinema section of the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation for 18 years and has written for the Jornal do Commercio in Recife, as well as for other magazines such as Revista Continente and Folha de São Paulo.

He is artistic director of the Janela Internacional de Cinema in Recife and chief film curator at the Instituto Moreira Salles. As a filmmaker, he moved from video in the 90s, trying his hand at fiction, documentary and music videos, to digital and 35mm in the 2000s. His first short films (A Menina Do Algodão, Vinil Verde, Eletrodoméstica, Recife Frio) won over 100 awards in Brazil and abroad. His first film was the documentary Crítico (2008).

In 2014, he directed The World Cup In Recife, a 15-minute documentary for Canal SportTV and Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre.

Neighboring Sounds (2012) is his first feature-length fiction film, selected for over 100 international festivals, released in 14 countries, and winner of 32 awards. The film was Brazil's representative at the 2014 Oscars and was considered ‘one of the 10 Best Films of the Year’ by The New York Times.

Aquarius (2016), his second feature-length film, has enjoyed an even more prestigious career, having been launched in more than 100 countries.

In 2018, he co-wrote and co-directed, alongside Juliano Dornelles, Bacurau, which was presented in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2019 and won the Jury Prize. The documentary Ghost Portrait (Retratos Fantasmas), his fifth feature film, had its world premiere at the 76th Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. The film is the fruit of seven years' work and research, filming and editing, and was presented in a Special Screening.

Eduardo Serrano - Brazilian film editor with an MA in Editing from the National Film and Television School (UK). He has edited three features for Kleber Mendonça Filho: Aquarius (2016) and Bacurau (2019) — both Cannes Official Competition — and The Secret Agent (2025), which won Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes. His work on Bacurau earned him the Brazilian Cinema Academy Award for Best Editing. Other credits include War Pony (Caméra d'Or, Cannes 2022), Divine Love (Sundance 2019, U.S. theatrical release), Neon Bull (Venice Special Jury Prize), and Tinnitus (Best Editing, Gramado Film Festival 2022). His work spans productions from Argentina, Portugal, Belgium, and the U.S., with films distributed in over 70 countries. He has given masterclasses at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Stanford University.

Matheus Farias holds a postgraduate specialization in Film Studies from the Catholic University of Pernambuco. He is an editor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He edited The Secret Agent and Pictures of Ghosts (Kleber Mendonça Filho — both Cannes Official Selections), Eros (Rachel Daisy Ellis — CPH:DOX Official Selection 2024), and Property (Daniel Bandeira — Berlinale Panorama 2023), for which he won the Best Editing Award at Festival do Rio 2022. He is the co-writer and co-director of the short films Unlivable (Sundance Film Festival 2021) and Burning Inside (Palm Springs ShortFest 2025; Festival do Rio 2024). His first feature film, A Margem do Rio, is currently in post-production.