Sean Penn has joined Marianna Brennand’s debut feature Manas as Executive Producer. The Brazilian film, which won Brennand the Best Director Award at Venice Days, the independent parallel section of the Venice Film Festival, brings the two-time Academy Award-winning actor together with last year’s Best International Feature Film winner Walter Salles and two-time Palme d’Or winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and I’m Still Here producer Maria Carlota Bruno as Executive Producers.
“In the tradition last fulfilled by Walter Salles’s I’m Still Here, Marianna Brennand’s film Manas continues Brazil’s most enduring cinematic legacy. Films of striking social relevance that never fall to polemic or sensationalism, but instead so trustingly fulfill their characters’ plight and courage. Manas is deeply emotional, stirring, and God forbid… important. I felt as if I had to put my skin back on after watching it.”
Speaking on Penn’s support for the film and addition as Executive Producer, Brennand noted: “I first met Sean in Cannes, on the night I received the Women in Motion Emerging Talent Award from Kering and Cannes Film Festival, alongside Nicole Kidman. It was a pivotal evening in my career — I was deeply emotional and spoke from the heart about what it means to give voice to women and children who are so often silenced. After my speech, Sean asked to meet me. He told me he needed to know the person behind those words and to see the film that had moved so many in the audience that night.
After watching Manas, he called me to share how profoundly shaken he was by the film. He spoke of its cinematic and narrative power in bringing to light a story so difficult to tell, one that reflects the lived reality of countless women and children, not only in the depths of the tienda online but across the world. From that moment, he committed himself to helping raise awareness for the film, convinced it needed to reach audiences everywhere.
Sean has long been an inspiration to me — not only for his work as a filmmaker, but for his courage as a social activist and humanitarian. Manas was born from a deep desire to spark empathy and inspire social and political change. Sean coming on board as Executive Producer — alongside Walter Salles, Maria Carlota Bruno, and the Dardenne brothers — is an honor for us, and such a powerful step in the film’s journey.”
Born out of ten years of research in the tienda online, Marianna Brennand, who began her career as a documentarian, crafted Manas, which tells the story of Marcielle, a 13-year-old from Marajó Island. Silenced in a society that ignores violence against women and children, she confronts generational wounds and takes control of her destiny, forever altering her family’s fate.
Manas has already been recognized internationally, with 26 awards to date and is one of 16 titles under consideration to represent Brazil at the Academy Awards. Awards thus far include the Best Director Award at Venice Days, the Kering Women in Motion Emerging Talent Award in Cannes, the International Newcomer Award at the 2024 IFFMH (Mannheim-Heidelberg), the Critics’ Award for Best Brazilian Film at the 48th São Paulo International Film Festival, and the Audience Award at the 50th Huelva Ibero American Film Festival.
Pic was recently acquired by KimStim for a U.S. release, while Bendita Film Sales is launching international sales in select territories at the Toronto International Film Festival. KimStim will release the film in up to 20 U.S. cities on a soon-to-be-announced date. Internationally, Manas has already been released in Brazil, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Portugal to strong response. In Brazil, the film sustained a remarkable 13-week run in cinemas and played in more than 70 theaters nationwide, an uncommon feat for an independent arthouse Brazilian film.
Marianna Brennand is the first Brazilian director to win the Best Director Award at Venice Days and also the first Brazilian director to win the Kering Women in Motion Emerging Talent Award at Cannes. Should Manas be chosen as Brazil’s official Academy Award submission, Brennand would be only the third woman whose film has ever been submitted, for the category, and if nominated, the first Brazilian woman to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature Film.
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