Kleber Mendonça Filho’s latest project is Brazil’s best bet for an international film Oscar.

The South American country has selected the 54-year-old Brazilian film director and screenwriter’s documentary Pictures of Ghosts as its entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Mixing archive and contemporary footage, the deeply personal work revisits the director’s hometown of Recife through the cinemas he once frequented.

The film world premiered as a Special Screening at Cannes Film Festival in May and had its North American premiere on September 9 in Toronto, before heading to New York.

Grasshopper Films acquired U.S. rights to the film this summer. Paris-based Urban Sales handles international sales.

The Brazilian Cinema Academy selected the film on Tuesday from a shortlist, which also included Guto Parente’s A Strange Path, Sergio de Carvalho’s Alien Nights, Eduardo Albergaria’s Nosso Sonho, Carolina Markowicz’s Toll and Claudio Borrelli’s Vultures.

The selection was made by a 23-member committee, chaired by distributor and exhibitor Ilda Santiago.

Mendonça Filho thanked the academy for selecting the film in a media post, re-enacting his taking the call on the phone as he stroked his cat.