Currently on an extended promotional tour since winning in Cannes with The Secret Agent (read review), Kleber Mendonça Filho will essentially easter egg or prequel from his fabulous docus Pictures of Ghosts – taking viewers back to 1930’s Recife. In an interview with Vulture (read below) we learn that post Oscar campaigning, the Brazilian filmmaker will go back to writing. If we look at his filmography (and exclude the pandemic) we are looking at a new film every three to four years which means we can almost date this with a 2027 production start date. It’s an almost guarantee that Emilie Lesclaux will produce.
What comes next for you? I know you mentioned the possibility of working on the other script that was originally The Secret Agent, but I’m wondering if you have any other ideas also.
I have a good idea right now, and it’s been in my mind for the last six months. I just have to live this great, amazing time I’m having with The Secret Agent, and then next year, I’ll sit down and write. The next story is actually embedded in Pictures of Ghosts. It should take place in the 1930s in Recife. I’m going back to a time I do not remember, but with which I’m sure we can have a lot of fun, and work with time again, and reconstruct a point of view on history. Beginning a new project is one of the toughest things ever because you begin to wonder, you ask too many questions of yourself and of the project itself. But yeah, I’m happy to report that I do have something in my mind. It’s not always like this.
