“The Secret Agent,” Brazil’s entry for this year’s Best International Film Oscar nomination, arrives in Boston Friday on the heels of last year’s multiple Brazilian Oscar nominee “I’m Still Here” as Best Picture, Best International Film and Best Actress.

“Secret Agent” won Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes and the NY Film Critics voted it Best International Film and for Wagner Moura Best Actor.

Both films are set in the ‘70s when military juntas ruled.

“Secret Agent” is written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho who, sitting next to Moura for a virtual interview, said, “All films eventually look at the past.

“Look at the United States in the ’80s when the Vietnam War movie became a sub genre, from ‘The Deer Hunter’ to ‘Full Metal Jacket,’ ‘Platoon’ and others.

“It’s only natural that some national trauma should be investigated. I was fully aware that the dictatorship movie has become a sub genre of Brazilian (and Chilean and Argentinian) cinema.

“Frankly, I did not want to do a classic dictatorship movie. I set the story in 1977 to rebuild a sense of history about that time. Yes, the dictatorship would naturally be part of the picture. But I wasn’t really aiming at the dictatorship.

“I’m fascinated by how a political moment in history influences decisions, behavior and the general mood of the nation. That is very strongly depicted in the film.”

“What put us together,” Moura said, “was that Brazil from 2018 to 2022 was, under Bolsonaro, a very fascist government. We were both very vocal against him and suffered the consequences of what we said and what we did with our work.”

Moura, a Golden Globe nominee as Pablo Escobar in “Narcos,” is expected to be Brazil’s first ever Oscar-nominated Best Actor.

“Every single film that I’ve done — and I’m being completely honest with you — I did with the best intentions. I’ve never done a film for money or because it’s an American big franchise.

“But things I did? Frankly, you fail. Many of those films I did with great intentions weren’t good.

“Of course, I gravitate towards political films. ‘Narcos’ was very political. But with Kleber, it’s like twins. How do you say, This is a brother — in terms of the way we see art, culture, films and everything.

“This Brazilian film matters to Brazil. We had ‘I’m Still Here’ last year, which congregated Brazilians in terms of, ‘Let’s root for these Brazilian artists!’

“I love the way that Brazilians gather around this film as they’re doing right now. Kleber and I, it’s not just the two of us here. I feel that we’re carrying lots of people here with us.

“And that’s very special.”

“The Secret Agent” opens Dec. 12