The Secret Agent, a Brazilian film nominated in three categories at the 2026 Golden Globes and the country’s bet for the Oscar, continues to be highlighted in the international press. This time, the New York Times created its own category to highlight the performance of Tânia Maria, interpreter of Dona Sebastiana.
The 78-year-old actress received the title for best performance with a cigarette, is part of a list of unusual awards compiled by the newspaper, which also includes categories such as best helmet performance and best nervous breakdown. “The performances of this year’s films were so good that we had to invent new awards,” the paper said.
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Wagner Moura and Tânia Maria in The Secret Agent
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The Secret Agent (2025)
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Wagner Moura in the film The Secret Agent, by Kleber Mendonça Filho
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Wagner Moura and Kleber Mendonça Junior behind the scenes of The Secret Agent
In the plot, Tânia Maria plays Dona Sebastiana, manager of the Ofir building, where Marcelo (Wagner Moura) hides after discovering that he is being hunted. The building hosts residents seeking refuge for a variety of reasons, from political persecution to LGBT+ people rejected by their families.
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Although she only appears with a cigarette in the first scene, the character claims to have smoked for 60 of her 77 years.
“She wields that cigarette the way more conventional older people wield a cane,” the New York Times reported. “Writer and director Kleber Mendonça Filho has a tireless eye for people. And in fact, Tânia Maria becomes much more than a supporting character in this great film.”
Before reaching the Golden Globes, the film won Kleber Mendonça Filho the Best Director award and Wagner Moura the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. The official list of Oscar nominees will be revealed on January 22.
The film follows Marcelo, a technology professor who returns to Recife in the 1970s in search of peace, but finds a city marked by tensions that prevent him from achieving the tranquility he desires.
Watch the trailer for The Secret Agent:
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