Isabél Zuaa said that the filming set had a “contagious” atmosphere and it moved her. “The energy was powerful, symbiotic, light, despite talking about such complex things, we laughed”he remembered.
At the time of recording, there was no idea that the film would have such a huge impact and success. But the way it was done already gave clues for the future, he said.
“We work with sensitive matter, so I think this reverberates and reaches and expands for the viewer,” he said. “Although I didn’t know directly that it would be a success, the symbiosis that occurred makes sense for it to be so.”
The actress, who has built a career with several films in Brazil since 2010, would like to see more diversity in cinema in Portugal, considering that there is a lot of national talent.
“I think our panorama is diverse, it is multiple and we have to take advantage of this as a raw material for artistic creation”, he considered. “Because this is how the artistic part always reflects on society.”
He does not consider that a film victory at the Oscars will make any difference in the market, stating that the change has to be structural and is important.
“Even as an archive and record for new generations to understand the power that we are as citizens, the stories that can be told, the narratives with different, multiple perspectives”, he said. “And I think it’s sad when it becomes corrupted from just one perspective.”
Riding the success of “The Secret Agent”, which has been “crazy” since the film was premiered in Cannes and one of the most awarded at that festival, Isabél Zuaa is also preparing a solo show, “Som, Matéria, Coração”, and working on an experimental film recorded between Portugal and Brazil.
“It is a very special film that talks in a symbolic and metaphorical way about this crossing of the Portuguese-Afro-diasporic Atlantic with Brazil, with Angola, with Guinea, with these cultural crossings that I have and that make me up, as an artist and a human being”.
“The Secret Agent” is nominated in four categories at the Oscars: Best Film, Best International Film, Best Actor and Best Casting.
The film has won more than 60 awards since its international premiere in May last year, including Best Foreign Language Film at the Critics Choice Awards and Best Non-English Language Film at the Golden Globes.
At the Cannes festival, “The Secret Agent” gave the Best Director award to Kleber Mendonça Filho, the Best Actor award to the protagonist, Wagner Moura, and was distinguished with the award from the international federation of film critics (Fipresci).
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