Tony Odyssey
Director: Thales Banzai
Brazil, United States, 2025, 105 min
Shooting Format:Digital
Festival Year:2026
Category:Narrative Feature
Genres:Comedy, Drama, Surrealist
Cast:Kelson Succi, Iraci Estrela, Sandro Guerra, Antônio Pitanga, Leci Brandão, Teuda Bara, Luiz Bertazzo, Chico César
Crew:Writer: Kelson Succi. Producers: Thales Banzai, Camila Cornelsen, Mario Peixoto. Cinematography: Camila Cornelsen; Editing: Thales Banzai; Composer: Kiko Dinucci; Musical Arrangement: Arthur Verocai
Email:thalesbanzai@gmail.com
Synopsis
After robbing the bar where he works, Tony and his best friend Ivy steal a hallucinogenic drug that sends them on a surreal Brazilian odyssey—where crime, faith, and illusion collide in a search for God.
Trailer
About the director
From VHS shorts in the ’90s to skate promos on Mini-DV in the 2000s, Brazilian director Thales Banzai has always been immersed in filmmaking. Between 2005 and 2010, he debuted at Brazilian film festivals with his first experimental shorts, selected for the ‘Festival do Minuto’, ‘Rio Short Film Festival’, ‘Curta-8’, among others. In addition to his own creative projects, he was an associate producer on the feature-length documentary Favela is Fashion by Emílio Domingos, which won the Rio Film Festival in 2019. Now based in LA, he just finished his debut feature film, Tony’s Odyssey, and is developing his first graphic novel, SELVA, to be adapted into a TV series. With his heart always in Brazil, he’s ready to bring daring stories to life.
Filmmaker's note
Our film is a very different kind of Brazilian cinema - we're definitely outsiders within the Brazilian cinema scene. Even though we produced it completely independently and self-financed, we somehow managed to get the interest and participation of legendary actor Antônio Pitanga, samba queen Leci Brandão, and narration by renowned musician Chico César.
I co-created it with Kelson Succi, a powerful new voice from Rio. As a Black, favela-born artist, Kelson resists being confined to the usual narratives of violence often imposed on stories about race, seeking instead the freedom to explore the themes and worlds that truly move him. From day one, we were certain that we wanted to tell a story that goes against everything expected of him.
The result feels like a dialogue with the spirit of Brazil’s more daring and inventive 60s–70s cinema, seen through our generation’s eyes.