Kleber Mendonça Filho wins best director award at Cannes

Brazilian filmmakerKleber Mendonça Filho won the award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival this Saturday 24th for the film “The Secret Agent”.

A few minutes earlier, Wagner Moura, the film's star, received the award for best actor at the festival. He plays a teacher who returns to Recife to reunite with his son during the dictatorship.

“I was drinking champagne for Wagner Moura’s award,” declared Mendonça Filho, a little surprised to be called back to the stage, after having received the award on behalf of the actor, who did not attend the ceremony.

“My country, Brazil, is a country full of beauty and poetry. I am very proud to be here tonight. I think Cannes is simply the cathedral of cinema on this planet,” added the filmmaker, who mixed Portuguese, French and English in his speech.

“A Simple Accident,” by Iranian dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi, won the Palme d’Or. The film, shot clandestinely, tells the story of a man who believes he recognizes his torturer on the streets of Tehran.