The Trial review – coolly observational view of Brazil’s crypto-coup | The Guardian

Maria August’s somewhat dry chronicle of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment is a reminder that democracy can sometimes be undermined from within the systemIn 2016, the impeachment trial of Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff, began. She was accused of breaking budgetary laws, but in the midst of the ongoing Operation Car Wash corruption scandal, her supporters argued that the real motivation behind the proceeding was political, not legal. In this film, completed before Bolsonaro’s rise to power, director Maria August takes us back through the strangely staid series of rulings. Is a coup is still a coup when it follows “due process”? Continue reading…

Maria August’s somewhat dry chronicle of Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment is a reminder that democracy can sometimes be undermined from within the system

In 2016, the impeachment trial of Brazil’s first female president, Dilma Rousseff, began. She was accused of breaking budgetary laws, but in the midst of the ongoing Operation Car Wash corruption scandal, her supporters argued that the real motivation behind the proceeding was political, not legal. In this film, completed before Bolsonaro’s rise to power, director Maria August takes us back through the strangely staid series of rulings. Is a coup is still a coup when it follows “due process”?

Continue reading…