Bolsonaro Wants to “Filter” Content of Brazilian Film Industry

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday, July 19th, that if the government is unable to enforce a filter on Brazilian audiovisual productions, through the National Cinema Agency (ANCINE), he will dissolve the agency.

Linked to the Ministry of Citizenship, ANCINE is a regulatory agency that is in charge of the promotion, regulation, and supervision of the cinema and audiovisual market in Brazil.

Bolsonaro repeated that he intends to move the agency’s headquarters to Brasília, and said he has not yet decided whether the agency will remain within the Citizenship portfolio, or whether it will be transferred to another ministry.

“There will be a filter, yes. Since it’s a federal body, if there can be no filter, we’ll extinguish ANCINE. We will privatize it, pass it on or extinguish it,” said the president.

When asked as to which filter he would like to introduce to ANCINE, Bolsonaro replied: “Cultural, darn it!”

He further said that he has not yet decided whether ANCINE will remain a regulatory agency, or whether it will become a secretariat under him. “It will be linked to a ministry; I don’t know which, if it will be Osmar Terra’s [Citizenship Minister] or not,” he explained.

The president once again criticized the use of public money to make “pornographic films” and advocated that Brazilian cinema should start addressing “Brazilian heroes”.

“We have so many heroes in Brazil, and we don’t talk about the heroes of Brazil, we don’t talk about it. We have to preserve, validate and appreciate these people in the past, they gave their lives, they made an effort to make Brazil independent and democratic, and they dreamt of a future that now belongs to all of us,” he added.

The government has also decided to halve the number of film industry representatives on the High Film Council, the body in charge of drafting a national policy for the sector.

A decree published in this Friday’s edition of the Federal Gazette reduces the number of representatives of the sector from six to three. It also reduces the participation of civil society in the collegiate body from three to two representatives.