RIO DE JANEIRO — In the Brazil of the near future, the government has found what it calls the answer to righting the wrongs of slavery: send its black citizens to Africa, AFP reported.
That dystopian premise is the point of departure for the new film Executive Order, which is generating controversy in the Brazil of the present over allegations it is being censored by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s government.
The film, the directorial debut from acclaimed actor Lazaro Ramos (Madame Sata), has won praise at a series of international festivals, from Moscow to Memphis.
But it does not yet have a release date in Brazil, where there are mounting accusations against the National Cinema Agency (Ancine) of dragging its feet on green-lighting films deemed uncomfortable for the Bolsonaro administration.
“Executive Order” stars Ramos’s wife, Tais Araujo, renowned actor and singer Seu Jorge (City of God, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), and Anglo-Brazilian star Alred Enoch (the Harry Potter franchise, How to Get Away with Murder).
Araujo and Enoch play Capitu and Antonio, a doctor and lawyer with the trappings of professional success.
Capitu “is a black woman who doesn’t really want to talk about racism at first — she just wants to live,” said Araujo.
Another Brazilian film that won applause on the international festival circuit, Marighella, faced a similar delay.
Directed by Narcos star Wagner Moura, the film is a biopic on a leftist guerrilla leader who fought Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964-1985).
Bolsonaro, a former army captain, is a fervent admirer of the former military regime, despite its large-scale human-rights abuses.
Marighella had its application to Ancine rejected twice in 2019, before finally being cleared for its Brazilian premiere last month.
Shortly after taking office in 2019, Bolsonaro said he wanted to “filter” Brazilian film productions.
“If there’s no filter, we’re going to get rid of Ancine,” he said.
Ramos is undeterred.
“We’re not going to stop debating this issue, or thinking about how this country was built,” he said.
“Art is powerful, we can’t give that up.”
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