It was was the evening after the elections in which Jair Bolsonaro, the extreme right-wing conservative, had one the first round and made it likely he would become the next president of Brazil. It was in a Catholic residence in the suburbs of Brazil, quite a strange place, very quiet, could have shot a scene from the Godfather in there. It was very rainy too. Some friends, a couple from a poorer part of Rio, came to the screening. They said they had voted for Bolsonaro “because he will allow people to defend themselves by having guns” and “because things have gone too far with men holding each other's hands in the streets” and because “it is good to have someone new”. These friends are really lovely. But also with different fundamental life views. Hard to know how to deal with such a thing. Don’t want to become more divided.
The screening was small, with a few local councilmen and other campaigners from PSOL, a group that split from Lula's workers party after a dispute over pensions policy. The debate was nice. But Lee and were a bit tired of talking, so tried as much to deflect questions. Plus much more interesting to hear from others. People were angry and upset about Bolsanro winning the day earlier - apart from my friends, who looked very uncomfortable. But the vibe in the end was ok, and three social workers were very praiseworthy of the film, saying they want to use it to show social worker colleagues the reality of life in the favelas. Someone else said it reminded him of the film Boyhood.
They wrote this review afterwards: http://www.forumgritabaixada.org.br/filme-retrata-a-vida-de-familia-em-favela-carioca
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