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How I am still here forcing Brazil to face the inheritance of dictatorship | News on Arts and Culture


But the film has found resonance in the present, as in the past, as Brazil is struggling with a modern coup attempt.

Exactly last month, President Lula celebrated the second anniversary of riots in the three forces of Brazil, where protesters hoped to ignite another military uprising.

Thousands of supporters of former President Jeir Bolsonaro went down to Plaza on January 8, 2023, just a week after Lula took office for a third, not conscientious mandate.

There, the rebels were touring the Supreme Court, the National Congress building and the Presidential Palace in Brazil, faced with security staff. Police claim that violence was part of a multi -conductive attempt to remove the pipe and return Bolsonaro to power.

Brazilian security forces stand on guard as supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro Rally in Brazil
Security forces are on guard, while the riots get closer to the Presidential Palace in Brazil, Brazil, on January 8, 2023 (Welesi Marcelino/Reuters)

Lucas Figureo, a journalist and author of several books on dictatorship, believes that the lack of awareness of the past has allowed many Brazilians to romantize the era of military government.

“To this day, the military see themselves as the right to try to review in the 21st century. This is enough proof that there is no memory for these events, “Figueiredo said.

Former army captain Bolsonaro publicly defended the military dictatorship and expressed nostalgia during this period.

During his presidency from 2019 to 2022, he also eternated the amnesty Commission and the Special Committee on Political Deaths and disappearance – two panels designed to document and respond to the violations of human rights from the past.

When asked about the movie I'm still here, Bolsonaro told a Bloomberg reporter: “I won't even waste my time.”

Figueiredo believes that the fact that no employees were punished for his role in military dictatorship has helped to nourish today's turmoil.

“This created a dynamics of impunity, which favors the attitudes like the ones we saw on January 8,” said Fiando.

Black and white photo of the Rubens family and the Einnis Paiva
A photo of a family album shows the author Marcelo Ruben Paiva during her childhood with his family (Lais Morais/Reuters)

But Marcia Carneiro, who teaches a history at Fluminense Federal University, noticed that the sense of impunity could be fading, given the impetus to hold Bolsonaro and his allies responsible.

On February 18, Brazil's best prosecutor Paulo Gennet has charged Bolsonaro and 33 others, accusing them that they were planning to overthrow the government. Bolsonaro could have faced decades in prison if he was convicted.

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

If Bolsonaro was in power, Carneiro believes that the movie I am still here can be met with protests and even attacks.

She pointed out that under Bolsonaro in 2019, protesters released Molotov cocktails at the headquarters of the comedy group Porta Fundos, as a result of a short Christmas film at Netflix, which presents Jesus as a gay.

But even the film's policy may have sunk some of the right criticism. I am still here focusing intimately on the power of the family, sketching an idyllic domestic life, disturbed by violence.

Experts say his emphasis on family dynamics over politics has made him attractive to a wide audience.

“Everyone has a family – mother, father – and is affected when they see them. Viewers acknowledge the opportunity for something like this to happen in their home, “Carneiro explained.

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