BIMIFF #4 - ENG

B I M I F F A R T A S A P O L I T I C A L F O R C E
70
The director André Borelli
Photo by Leo Lara
which, through tests where male subjects thought to
be heterosexual and homophobic, felt, in an
experimental setting, sexual stimulation when
exposed to viewing filmed scenes of male homosexual
behavior, it was soon concluded that "homophobes
are closeted gays."
"Surely there is a love hidden in the one who hates.
We are not good or bad beings by nature. In fact, by
nature, we are nothing. We seek balance in our
existence, no matter how unbalanced we may seem at
times. I think that an example that might fit here is the
urge to 'crush' a baby in a moment of excessive
cuteness: violence arises in our mind to balance
something that overflows in another direction. So, yes.
In my view, there is a proper punishment for
intolerance", Borelli affirms.
But this does not mean that everyone who voted for
Bolsonaro is a fascist. Few are those who know what
fascism is. The number of votes that Bolsonaro got in
the 2018 and 2022 elections shows yet another Nazi
characteristic. Many votes were primarily boosted by
the fake news disseminated on social media. A tactic
used by the Nazis when they spread many lies about
Jews and communists, to achieve their goals. They
used their fanaticism against people of different races.
They tried to dehumanize their victims by labeling
them as subhuman. Historians refer to this period as
the Holocaust because more than six million Jews
were killed.
"We accelerated the post-production and the release of the film precisely to catch this presidential
election period, to fulfill the role of the film. It is a social film, of denunciation and appeal. I believe it
will reverberate in Brazilian society for some time, in the hope that it will reflect on what brought
Bolsonaro to power. History cannot repeat itself.".
The feature film mirrors the current political environment. It shows that even though Bolsonaro lost the
election, his ideology of hate and intolerance persists rooted in Brazilian society.
"The film is an opportunity for us to ponder our society. And as such, it offers not answers, but
questions. I think the role of the artist is not to give solutions, but to encourage reflection and dialogue.
It is to put your finger on the wound, to point it out, to rub it in your face... 'And now, what do you do
with that? What does that make you feel?' So I don't know how to answer what fuels such feelings. But I
do know how to arouse them - the film does - and, who knows, maybe then we will be able to reach a
'conclusion', even if it is a provisional one. " explains the filmmaker.