The 48-year-old actor is one of the most recognized faces in Brazilian cinema, known for his international roles, particularly in the Netflix series ‘Narcos,’ where he portrayed the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.
The feature film ‘O Agente Secreto,’ directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, also secured an award outside the official competition, deemed the best of the festival by the jury of critics from the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI).
“We chose a film that possesses romantic and epic generosity. A movie that allows for digression, enjoyment, humor, and character to invoke a time and place and a rich history,” explained the critics’ jury.
Set in Recife in 1977, ‘O Agente Secreto’ is a political thriller delving into the tensions of a nation under military rule, where Wagner Moura plays Marcelo, a technology expert returning to his hometown seeking peace but instead encountering a world filled with secrets and dangers.
Co-produced by Brazil, France, Netherlands, and Germany, the film’s cast includes Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leone, and Hermila Guedes.
There is anticipation that the nine-member jury, led by French actress Juliette Binoche, may send a significant political message if they award the dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi—who attends Cannes following fifteen years under house arrest in Iran—the Ukrainian Sergey Loznitsa, the Swedish-Egyptian Tarik Saleh, or make history by granting a third Palme d’Or to the Dardenne brothers.
The festival’s conclusion is overshadowed by two power outages during the day, with French authorities investigating potential sabotage that caused a blackout in Cannes and nearby towns.
Nevertheless, the organization continued with the official ceremony using independent generators, although sessions planned outside the Palais des Festivals were canceled.
A suspicious fire at a substation in Biançon, followed by the collapse of a high-tension pole, led to two power supply failures affecting approximately 160,000 homes in the region. The situation is being gradually restored, with the French electricity network operator RTE indicating the first outage was temporarily resolved by redirecting power from other grids.
While the exact cause of these incidents has not been confirmed, the timing coinciding with the Cannes Festival’s closing ceremony raises concerns about deliberate intentions.
Electricity is gradually being restored in the region, with 60,000 homes being reconnected by mid-afternoon, according to authorities.
