Our latest series concludes with an essay doc from one of contemporary cinema’s leading directors filmed on the occasion of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Biting and hilarious, Kleber Medonça Filho’s The World Cup in Recife observes how his hometown reacts to the arrival of the world sporting event.

Alternating between interviews with locals and tourists, as well as his own commentary on the hubbub that takes over Recife once soccer teams start arriving, Filho’s film offers a mosaic-like look at how the World Cup upturns local customs and infrastructure. This becomes evident in his decision to foreground the eviction of activists protesting the event and the use of government funds to sponsor the construction of new highways instead of public transport.

“Film is part of culture, living in society is part of culture, and politics is part of culture…. Cinema, just like poetry, journalism, music, or a conversation between two friends, offers a mirror to life in society.” KLEBER MENDONÇA FILHO

Most amusing among these observations are Filho’s interviews with taxi drivers who complain about Americans slamming their cars’ doors. This granular attention to such a small but ubiquitous action reflects his strengths as a filmmaker who is able to identify social patterns in the smallest of gestures. Though much of this is played for laughs in The World Cup in Recife, it anticipates how Filho has continued to interrogate behavioral patterns and their attendant politics in such films as Pictures of the Ghosts and The Secret Agent.

Kleber Medonça Filho is a world-renowned Brazilian director, film critic, and curator. Since his breakout debut Neighboring Sounds in 2012, Filho has developed a unique cinematic voice that pairs an interest in genre tropes with concerns over local politics. His most recent film, The Secret Agent, earned him a Best Director Award at Cannes 2025 and an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. Centered on a man on the run from government conspirators in ‘70s Brazil, it emblematizes Filho’s ability to engage politics and entertainment on equally serious terms.

Text written by Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer. Special thanks to Kleber Mendonça Filho and Cinetic.