Cannes red carpet protest: 'Brazil is not a democracy'

[Judi Lynn]

Cannes red carpet protest: 'Brazil is not a democracy'

Jake Coyle, Ap Film Writer

Updated 8:47 pm, Tuesday, May 17, 2016



CANNES, France (AP) — The cast of the Brazilian film "Aquarius" held a protest at their Cannes Film Festival red carpet premiere on Tuesday, holding signs reading that Brazil is no longer a democracy.

Other signs claimed that Brazil has been the victim of a coup. On Thursday, Brazil's Senate voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, the South American country's first female leader, for allegedly using illegal accounting tricks to hide deficits in federal budgets.

Rousseff has insisted she has done nothing wrong and has called the impeachment a coup. The Senate elected an acting president, 75-year-old Michel Temer, who's married to a 32-year-old former beauty pageant contestant.

"Aquarius," directed by Kleber Mendonca Filhois, is about an aging music critic trying to keep her apartment against developers. It's competing for the Palme d'Or.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Cannes-red-carpet-protest-Brazil-is-not-a-7521757.php

(Short article, no more at link.)

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10141454223

[msongs]

1. neither is the cannes film festival outcome lol nt

[maybelline jombi]

2. neither is the U S A

[Judi Lynn]

3. Too true. Damned sad. Welcome to D.U., maybelline jombi! n/t

[Judi Lynn]

4. 'Brazil is not a democracy': Cannes contender's cast stage red carpet protest

'Brazil is not a democracy': Cannes contender's cast stage red carpet protest

The cast and crew of Aquarius, a highly-regarded Brazilian film in Cannes, held aloft banners proclaiming ‘A coup took place in Brazil’ and ‘We will resist’ at the official premiere

Catherine Shoard
@catherineshoard
Tuesday 17 May 2016 10.48 EDT

The cast and crew of Aquarius, an acclaimed Brazilian drama in competition at Cannes have used the film’s official premiere to mount a protest as what they see as a coup in their country.

Writer-director Kleber Mendonca Filho, along with his cast and crew, climbed the steps to the Palais in Cannes before revealing a selection of banners apparently objecting to the recent impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff.

The protest was met by ecstatic applause inside the cinema. Audience members then joined in by holding aloft similar banners.
Aquarius is about an ageing music critic, played by Sonia Braga, eager to remain in her apartment despite developer pressure. Yet it is not an overtly political film, instead meditating on shifting familial allegiances and the way space intersects with identity.

The film was made before the current political crisis in Brazil, which has seen the country’s first female president forced from office, protesting her innocence about the crimes of which she has been accused.

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/17/brazil-is-not-a-democracy-aquarius-premiere-cannes-red-carpet-protest

[Judi Lynn]

5. 'Brazil is divided': Aquarius star Sonia Braga and director address Cannes protests

'Brazil is divided': Aquarius star Sonia Braga and director address Cannes protests

A day after staging a demonstration against what they believe to be a coup in their country, Aquarius writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho and actor Braga explain why they are concerned for Brazil’s future

Nigel M Smith in Cannes
@nigelmfs
Wednesday 18 May 2016 10.41 EDT

“Brazil is divided,” declared writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho at the Cannes film festival on Wednesday, where his new film, Aquarius, is competing for the Palme d’Or.

His comments, made to the Guardian at a press conference for the drama on Wednesday, come a day after the film’s premiere, where the cast and crew used the opportunity to mount a protest against what they describe as a coup.

Filho and his team are angered about the the recent impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff, the country’s first female president, who was forced from office, as well as interim president Michel Temer’s controversial decision to abolish Brazil’s culture ministry. Temer has since sought to tamp down the criticism by appointing a culture secretary, but four potential candidates have reported refusing the job.

“They picked the wrong month to extinguish the ministry of culture, because a movie made with very public funds is currently competing in Cannes,” Filho said.

The film-maker added that the “dramatic divide” Rousseff’s impeachment has brought to Brazil is “terrible”. “It’s bringing out the worst in both sides - particularly the right side,” he said. “People in congress saying women shouldn’t work because they get pregnant - shocking ideas like that.”

More:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/18/brazil-is-divided-aquarius-sonia-braga-cannes-protests