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| Petra Costa (born on 8 July 1983 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil) at Venice Film Festival, 30 Aug 2024. Next day we met her in Telluride. |
From Film Watch 2024, the Telluride Film Festival magazine:
THE REVELATION
DEEP INSIDE BRAZIL'S EVANGELICAL MOVEMENT
How does a democracy end and a theocracy begin? The Oscar-nominated Brazilian director Petra Costa (Edge of Democracy) investigates the growing political power of the evangelical movement of Brazil, one of the world's largest Christian nations. She spoke with Mark Danner about Apocalypse in the Tropics.
MARK DANNER: I'm fascinated by the title of your film, Apocalypse in the Tropics. We think of it as the end of the world, but you point out that the Greek meaning of the word is "unveiling". What does your film unveil about Brazil?
PETRA COSTA: For Brazil, the apocalypse was on our minds during the pandemic. Similar to the United States, we had a president that was going against any norm of sensibility. I started to dig deep to find the essence of why.
At first, it seemed that [President Jair] Bolsonaro was at the center of our catastrophe, but as we dug deeper, it became clear that there was a religious shift - a tectonic shift - that was even more important than Bolsonaro. Brazil is becoming an evangelical nation, a type of religiosity that is focused on taking over the three branches of power.
MD: Brazil had such faith in modernity. Has the progressive philosophy weakened?
PC: The working class does not identify with the language spoken by progressives. That's one reason for the rise of these movements.
No one believes the current form of capitalism will improve our lives. It's this kind of savage capitalism, with billionaires who don't pay taxes. Even Adam Smith would be against this form. Everybody feels that. There's a huge crisis of democracy.
Religion is still one of the strongest mobilizing forces in the world.
MD: You are saying that a collapse in moral structures on the left has allowed evangelism to make great strides among the working class.
PC: Progressives don't look at religion with respect. In the 60s and 70s the civil rights movements were led by religious figures. That's not the case today. The far right has much more energy than the left.
It's as if the left doesn't know what to propose. They lack, as it's said, the fire of Prometheus. That's with the far right at this moment, and the left has resigned itself to become manager of the crisis of capitalism.
MD: Let me ask you about the televangelist Silas Malafaia, whom you call the kingmaker. How did you begin to document him? Do you think his ambition is distinct from his evangelical beliefs?
PC: We told him that we would love to film with him. He gave us a lot of access during four years. We filmed hours of him giving services. We saw his archival material.
He thinks that the evangelical religion should take over the seven mountains of influence [family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, buiness and government]. If that's one of his main tenets, there's no contradiction in being ambitious. One of his strengths is that he's transparent about what he wants and how he's going to do it. That's what I find most fascinating - it's rare to find people who explain their methods in politics.
MD: The film is about a spiritual war that's going on. It's not about a single election. That very much reminded me of what's happening in the United States now. What do you think when you compare them?
PC: One is the mirror of the other in a very uncanny way. The number of parallels continues to surprise me every day. What happened to Trump with the attack and the bullet he received in his ear was almost identical to what happened to Bolsonaro in 2018 when Bolsonaro was stabbed.
The interpretations of their followers were the same: it was a miracle. For Bolsonaro, it was the moment when he became the Messiah, a person anointed by God. Many of his followers believe this to this day.
MD: Do you have words of admonition to progressive forces about what they must do to repair this gap that they let evangelical slow through?
PC: We need to find a common language with people that share similar beliefs. We have to diminish our differences so, at minimum, we can secure our rule of law and our democracy. We have to find what unites us. The most dangerous pandemic of our times is this pandemic of fascism and fundamentalism.
MD: When you say "to find what unites us," what are you talking about?
PC: Jesus is one of the main proponents in the West of a universal human right - the idea that every human being deserves the love of the Lord. The love of God is not just for the chosen ones; it's for everyone.
It's one of the most revolutionary things about Jesus' thinking. That's the common language. We want every human being to be respected. That's the principle of Christianity and the principle of democracy.
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Petra Costa in conversation with Mark Danner (Film Watch 2024, Telluride Film Festival magazine)
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