Wagner Moura Stays Outspoken, Even When Trouble Follows

 

"As artists like Moura and Mendonça Filho became more vocal about Brazil’s conservative turn, they also faced right-wing backlash from Bolsonaro’s government and on social media. “When they say that we artists are this intellectual elite that’s against the people, people buy that,” Moura said. “It’s like the old manual of fascism where they attack press, artists, universities, things like that. And he was very effective.”

Moura felt that hostility most acutely after making his directorial debut with “Marighella,” a political biopic that was also set during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Though the movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in early 2019, Bolsonaro’s government effectively blocked its release in Brazil until the end of 2021. By then, Moura had been painted in such a controversial light by the right wing that some theaters installed metal detectors when he attended screenings.

“What the far right is afraid of is not what we say, it’s what we do,” Moura noted. “If I had social media, I could have spent every day saying he was a fascist, but that wouldn’t bother him as much as the film I did.”

read interview with wagner moura
by kyle buchanan