How the film I’m Still Here forces Brazil to face a dictatorship’s legacy

But the film has found resonance in the present as well as the past, as Brazil grapples with the fallout of a modern-day coup attempt.

Just last month, President Lula marked the second anniversary of a riot in Brasilia’s Three Powers Plaza, where protesters had hoped to spark another military uprising.

Thousands of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro descended on the plaza on January 8, 2023, just a week after Lula took office for a third, nonconsecutive term.

There, the rioters ransacked the Supreme Court, the National Congress building and the presidential palace in Brasilia, clashing with security officers. Police say the violence was part of a multipronged attempt to oust Lula and return Bolsonaro to power.

Brazil security forces stand guard as supporters of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro rally in Brasilia — Security forces stand guard as rioters converge on the presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on January 8, 2023 [Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters]

Lucas Figueiredo, a journalist and author of several books about the dictatorship, believes a lack of awareness about the past has allowed many Brazilians to romanticise the era of military rule.

“To this day, the military sees itself as having the right to attempt a coup d’etat in the 21st century. This is ample proof that no memory has been built up about those events,” Figueiredo said.

A former army captain, Bolsonaro has publicly defended the military dictatorship and expressed nostalgia for that period.

During his presidency, from 2019 to 2022, he also gutted the Amnesty Commission and the Special Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances — two panels designed to document and respond to the human rights abuses of the past.

When asked about the film I’m Still Here, Bolsonaro told a Bloomberg reporter, “I’m not even going to waste my time.”

Figueiredo believes the fact that no officials were punished for their role in the military dictatorship has helped fuel the present-day turmoil.

“This created a dynamic of impunity which favours attitudes like the ones we saw on January 8,” Figueiredo said.

A black-and-white photo of the family of Rubens and Eunice Paiva — A family album picture shows author Marcelo Rubens Paiva during his childhood with his family [Lais Morais/Reuters]

But Marcia Carneiro, who teaches history at the Fluminense Federal University, observed that the sense of impunity may be fading, given the push to hold Bolsonaro and his allies accountable.

On February 18, Brazil’s top prosecutor, Paulo Gonet, filed charges against Bolsonaro and 33 others, accusing them of plotting to overthrow the government. Bolsonaro could face decades in prison if convicted.

“There is a new awareness emerging that those who act against the rule of law can be punished. This is interesting and new in Brazil,” Carneiro said.

If Bolsonaro had been in power, Carneiro believes the film I’m Still Here may have been greeted with protests and even attacks.

She pointed out that, under Bolsonaro in 2019, protesters launched Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the comedy group Porta dos Fundos, in the wake of a short Christmas film on Netflix that portrayed Jesus as gay.

But even the politics of the film may have blunted some of the right-wing criticisms. I’m Still Here focuses intimately on the power of family, sketching an idyllic home life disrupted by violence.

Experts say its emphasis on family dynamics over politics has made it appealing to a wide audience.

“Everyone has a family — a mother, a father — and is affected when they see them suffering. Viewers recognise the possibility of something like this happening in their home,” Carneiro explained.

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