Bolsonaro government attacks Oscar nominee Petra Costa as 'anti-Brazil activist'

[Judi Lynn]

President’s son Eduardo also lashes out at film-maker
The Edge of Democracy nominated in documentary category
Tom Phillips, Latin America correspondent

Tue 4 Feb 2020 11.22 EST Last modified on Tue 4 Feb 2020 13.10 EST

Most governments celebrate when their citizens are nominated for Academy Awards – but not in Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil.

In an extraordinary barrage of tweets on Monday, the presidential agency responsible for elevating Brazil’s international profile savaged documentary director Petra Costa, branding her “an anti-Brazil activist” who had “tarnished the country’s image abroad”.

Bolsonaro’s politician son, Eduardo, led the charge, calling Costa a “canalha” – which translates roughly as “scumbag”.

Costa’s Netflix film The Edge of Democracy was nominated for the best documentary Oscar last month, and the 36-year-old filmmaker has become a prominent international critic of Bolsonaro’s far-right administration.

. . .

“I don’t usually waste time rebutting scumbags like Mrs Petra Costa but the level of her absurdities is criminal,” tweeted Eduardo Bolsonaro, the South American representative of Steve Bannon’s far-right group The Movement, alongside the hashtag #PetraCostaLiar.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/04/bolsonaro-government-petra-costa-brazil-oscar-nominee

[sandensea]

1. A petty, vindictive child - like Cheeto

When neighboring Argentina won its last Foreign-Language Oscar (in 2010, for The Secret in Their Eyes), the right-wing media tried to play up what they hoped would be a snub from then-President Cristina Kirchner for the director, Juan José Campanella.

The reason? Cristina is an opinionated progressive, and Campanella, sadly, is an avowed right-winger (and racist).

But when Campanella and his cast and crew arrived in Buenos Aires with the Oscar, she greeted them with all the honors you'd accord to someone who had just won something so prestigious.

She saw it as an honor, above all, for the country. The way any head of state should - especially of struggling countries like Argentina or Brazil.

But try telling Bolsonazi that!