Kleber Mendonça Filho, Wagner Moura and More Brazilian Academy Members Release Open Letter Expressing ‘Concern’ Over Brazil’s Presidential Elections (EXCLUSIVE)

Several Brazilian members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, including Oscar nominees Kleber Mendonça Filho, Wagner Moura, Emilie Lesclaux, Fernando Meirelles, Alê Abreu and Petra Costa, and Oscar-winning producer Rodrigo Teixeira (“I’m Still Here”), have released an open letter calling international attention to the upcoming second round of Brazil‘s presidential elections.

The polls will open Oct. 25 and see current president Luis Inácio Lula da Silva face far-right candidate Flávio Bolsonaro. Flávio is the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving a 27-year and three-month sentence under house arrest for plotting a coup d’état after losing the 2022 presidential election. Earlier this week, Variety published an in-depth report detailing how Jair Bolsonaro dismantled Brazil’s audiovisual sector, alerting to a similar future ahead if Flávio Bolsonaro wins the upcoming elections.

Other high-profile signatories include Alice Braga (“City of God”), Karim Aïnouz (“The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão”), Sônia Braga (“Aquarius”), Gabriel Mascaro (“The Blue Trail”), Carolina Markowicz (“Charcoal”), Anita Rocha da Silveira (“Medusa”), Anna Muylaert (“The Second Mother”), Laís Bodanzky (“Brainstorm”) and Rio Film Festival director Ilda Santiago.

The letter calls for “close international attention” to the elections, detailing how Flávio Bolsonaro has recently pledged “to rewrite Brazil’s 1988 Constitution” and noting an alleged U.S. intervention in the first round of the elections, reported by The Guardian in an investigation on how the “United States government allocated approximately US$1 million from a State Department human rights fund to a program called ‘Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil.’”

“We see the developments unfolding in Brazil as part of a broader pattern of alleged electoral interference across Latin America,” says the letter, which can be read in full below:

An Open Letter from Brazilian Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to Our Colleagues in the Film Industry and the International Press

We, Brazilian film professionals and members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, wish to express our concern over the current political climate in Brazil and call for close international attention to the second round of the presidential election on October 25.

The margin between the two candidates in the first round was just 1.87 percentage points. Brazil is therefore a deeply divided country. We are nonetheless witnessing troubling signs of disregard for democratic norms, including allegations of possible foreign interference in Brazil that warrant transparent investigation and international scrutiny.

The Guardian has reported that the United States government allocated approximately US$1 million from a State Department human rights fund to a program called “Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil.”

At the same time, media observers have raised concerns about possible distortions in the reach of political content on Meta platforms and have called for an investigation. Among the cases cited are the Instagram accounts of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which have reportedly experienced declines in reach, difficulties with access and visibility in search results, as well as an inability to promote posts through paid advertising. Another case involves a US-based website promoting the purchase of advertisements in support of candidate Flávio Bolsonaro in exchange for cryptocurrency tokens, under the promise of helping underprivileged children in Uganda. Brazil’s Federal Police are also investigating suspicions of cash payments to voters in rural areas.

Several of Flávio Bolsonaro’s proposals also warrant close scrutiny, including his pledge to rewrite Brazil’s 1988 Constitution, which marked the end of military dictatorship and the restoration of democracy in the country. According to the candidate, a new constitution would be drafted by a Congress dominated by a far-right majority. This statement is particularly troubling in light of the attempted coup attributed to former president Jair Bolsonaro, the candidate’s father. The plot included plans to assassinate the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and his vice president, Geraldo Alckmin. Jair Bolsonaro is imprisoned in connection with this case, while his son has pledged to grant him amnesty as his first act in office.

Our concern is compounded by the way much of Brazil’s mainstream media has normalized these developments, failing to address with the seriousness they deserve the allegations against Flávio Bolsonaro and the crimes attributed to his father. In addition to the attempted coup, Jair Bolsonaro was the subject of a complaint filed with the International Criminal Court in The Hague over the more than 600,000 COVID-19 deaths recorded in Brazil during the pandemic, amid actions and omissions by his administration. The complaint argues that more than half of those deaths could have been prevented.

His administration was also associated with Brazil’s return to the United Nations’ Hunger Map. Now, his son is promising cuts to social security spending modeled on the austerity policies of Javier Milei’s government in Argentina. The omission or downplaying of these facts contributes to public misinformation and undermines the defense of democracy.

As cultural professionals, we understand the cost these austerity policies can impose on our sector. Under the previous administration, Brazil’s audiovisual industry suffered from the closure of the Ministry of Culture, the suspension of the Audiovisual Sector Fund, the weakening of cultural institutions, and allegations of censorship. We fear a return to that scenario. Protecting freedom of expression and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Brazil’s audiovisual industry are inseparable from defending democracy.

We see the developments unfolding in Brazil as part of a broader pattern of alleged electoral interference across Latin America. The defense of Brazilian democracy must therefore rest not only with the Brazilian people, through free, fair and transparent elections, but also with the vigilance and engagement of the international community.

We call on the international press to cover this electoral process rigorously, on the international audiovisual community to amplify the debate, and on the relevant institutions to investigate these allegations independently.

Adrian Teijido

Alê Abreu

Alice Braga

Andrea Barata Ribeiro

Anita Rocha da Silveira

Anna Muylaert

Anna Van Steen

Bernardo Uzeda

Carlos Segundo

Carolina Markowicz

Claudia Kopke

Daniel Filho

Daniel Rezende

Daniela Thomas

Eduardo Serrano

Eliza Capai

Emilie Lesclaux

Emilio Domingos

Fernando Meirelles

Flávia Amon

Flávia de Souza

Gabriel Domingues

Gabriel Mascaro

Helena Solberg

Heloisa Passos

Ilda Santiago

Jefferson De

Jorge Bodanzky

José Joffily

Juliana Rojas

Karen Akerman

Karen Harley

Karim Ainouz

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Lais Bodanzky

Lucy Barreto

Maeve Jinkings

Marcelo Caetano