The King of the Morning to represent Brazil in 2018 Oscars

The Brazilian Film Academy announced that The King of the Morning, directed by Daniel Rezende, is the Brazilian feature selected to compete for best film in a foreign language in the Academy Awards next year. The decision was disclosed at midday on Friday (Sep. 15) at the Cinemateca Brasileira preservation institute, in São Paulo.

Over 200 members of the commission formed by film experts participated in the decision.

Jorge Peregrino, vice-president of the academy, says that this year's selection of films proved really remarkable, but added that The King of the Morning surpassed all expectations. The story centers of the life of Arlindo Barreto, one of the men who played Bozo, the clown famous on Brazilian 80's television. Despite his fame, he was not recognized by people on the streets, which led to  frustration and his problem with drug abuse.

The King of the Morning competed alongside another 22 movies.

Filmmaker and producer João Daniel Tikhomiroff, a member of the commission, said that factors like universality, film language, and international understanding were taken into account. “[The film] meets every requirement,” he said. “In addition to being extremely well-structured in its screenplay, cast, and editing, it's really well crafted. It made a great impact on us, and that's the first criterion we focused on,” he declared.

Coming to a decision, he said, took more time than  expected, since the commission is made up of different-minded experts. “It was hard to choose, there were so many relevant works. We had at least three or four films that could represent Brazil,” he pointed out.

Filmmaker Miguel Faria Júnior, also a member of the commission, said he did not focus on the US public. “I wanted to choose the most important film, the best produced one in Brazil this year. The most successful ones outside of Brazil are usually more local, not the marketing-oriented ones,” he said.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira