The 25th Grande Otelo, held on Tuesday at Rio de Janeiro's Municipal Theatre, ended in an unprecedented tie for best fiction feature between Marianna Brennand's Manas and Kleber Mendonça Filho's O Agente Secreto. The two films dominated the night, with Manas taking five awards and O Agente Secreto four, including the shared top prize.

The tie drew immediate criticism. Mendonça Filho, a director from Pernambuco, told the audience: "There is a strong southeastern air that we need to dissipate a little in the Brazilian Academy of Cinema." Director Thiago Dude wrote on X that the result was "pure revanchism and classism," alleging that the academy had been pressured into submitting O Agente Secreto for the Oscar after initially preferring Manas.

The award breakdown highlighted the tension. Manas won best direction for Brennand, best original screenplay, best editing and best supporting actress for Dira Paes. O Agente Secreto, nominated in 18 categories, took only four – best fiction feature, cinematography, art direction and visual effects – losing best director and best actor to other films. Homem com H, a biopic of Ney Matogrosso, led the night with six trophies; the academy's announcement names best actor for Jesuíta Barbosa, art direction, costume, makeup, soundtrack, sound and the popular jury prize, a list that appears to include the popular jury award among the six.

O Agente Secreto had won two Golden Globes and was Brazil's Oscar entry, while Manas had collected 46 international prizes, according to Brennand, who said being recognised at home was "very special." Academy president Renata Almeida Magalhães defended the peer-voting system, saying "there is no curation, no jury – it's your peers who vote." The academy has not publicly addressed the allegations of bias or the discrepancy in Homem com H's award count.