New York Times Includes Brazilian “The Edge of Democracy” in Best Films of 2019

By Xiu Xing

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “The Edge of Democracy”, a documentary by Petra Costa on the current Brazilian political landscape, was included by the New York Times in its list of the best films from 2019 so far.

The list, published on Thursday, June 27th, included seven other movies released this year, such as “Rolling Thunder Revue”, Martin Scorsese’s documentary on Bob Dylan, and “Booksmart”, a teenage drama directed by actress Olivia Wilde.

According to the newspaper, the film “analyzes Brazilian politics — two recently disgraced presidents, the current one leaning toward authoritarianism — from the outraged standpoint of the filmmaker Petra Costa.”

The article retrieves an excerpt from the film review, signed by critic A.O. Scott; he described the documentary as “a chronicle of civic betrayal and misuse of power, and also of grief.”

The film by Petra, granddaughter of a contractor and daughter of militants who fought the dictatorship, narrates events such as the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and the arrest of former President Lula in parallel to his biography, identified with leftist ideals.

“The Edge of Democracy”, partly funded by Netflix and distributed by the streaming service, went on air on June 19th. The film is also being screened in movie theaters in the United States.