Brazil’s documentary wars

The events of the past years in Brazil deserve cinematic treatment. From the irruption of street protests in June 2013, through a World Cup and an Olympics, massive corruption revelations, a cataclysmic impeachment, and the country’s worst-ever recession, to the election of one of the most right-wing leaders on the planet, it is a story that needs telling—and explaining. And The Edge of Democracy is a beautifully made attempt to do so. But in today’s Brazil, nothing is so simple.

Petra Costa’s film has been amply reviewed elsewhere, so relaying its form and content is not our object here. What should be noted is that, while the film is hardly uncritical of the Workers’ Party, it—and the film’s auteur, whose own biography is skillfully interlaced with the film’s narrative—is explicit about its left-wing sympathies. It is unabashedly partisan—in favor of democracy. But that is not an uncontested value: for one section of the right, it was precisely the Workers’ Party that came to threaten democracy; for another, democracy itself is suspect.

Consequently, we are about to witness a political battle fought across the terrain of the silver screen, as other films currently in the works present their own, alternative narratives, from more conservative perspectives. 

Politics played out over film

Brazil is not a stranger to controversy over cinematic production; unsurprising in a country where culture plays an outsize role in discourse and self-conception. 

In 2016, under the shadow of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Aquarius became the year’s most talked-about film. First, the cast protested the impeachment on Cannes Film Festival’ red carpet, declaring it a “coup” and stating that “Brazil is not a democracy anymore”. Hotly tipped for an Oscar, the film was then withdrawn by the Culture Ministry commission responsible for Brazil’s submission. For the director, the choice—made under the Michel Temer government—was clearly politically motivated.

The release of the José Padilha’s series, The Mechanism (Netflix, 2018), also proved highly controversial, as its Manichaean and sensationalist depiction of the procedures of Operation Car Wash drew ire from the left. Mr. Padilha subsequently admitted error, charging Sergio Moro—the hero of his series—with a lack of independence and of providing succor to militias (this before...