“The Edge of Democracy” director Petra Costa appears on Iranian TV
TEHRAN –(Iranart)- Brazilian director Petra Costa, famous for her Oscar-nominated film, “The Edge of Democracy”, appeared on an Iranian TV program on Friday elaborating on her films and plans.
The program named “Nardeban” is being broadcast from the Mostanad Channel, IRIB’s channel dedicated to screening documentary films.
The program covers issues on documentary cinema and photography in two sections for beginners and professionals.
Costa talked about her self-experience in cinema and filmmaking while she also reviewed political documentaries made by Iranian filmmakers.
“The Edge of Democracy” chronicles Brazil’s recent political upheaval, and follows the impeachment of a president, the imprisonment of a historical leader and the rise of a right-wing populist.
In this documentary, Costa documents Brazil’s still-festering divisions through a personal rather than journalistic lens, narrating events in the first person and using the political battles within her own family as a backdrop.
The idea first came to her in 2016, when protests erupted demanding the impeachment of then-President Dilma Rousseff, who was accused of illegally manipulating government accounts to hide a growing deficit in order to secure her re-election.
The documentary opens with the man known popularly as Lula being driven through a sea of supporters on his way to prison.
While the film openly discusses the web of corruption that had ensnared all of the country’s top political parties, including the Workers Party, Costa attributes Rousseff’s removal and Lula’s arrest to Machiavellian manipulations by the country’s wealthy elite.
Costa’s work encompasses both fiction and nonfiction. Her first film “Elena” premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and was called a “cinematic dream” by the New York Times and a “masterful debut” by IndieWire.
Her second film, “Olmo and the Seagull”, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival. Her most recent film, “The Edge of Democracy”, is a poetic telling of the birth and erosion of Brazilian democracy.
A number of Iranian filmmakers and documentarians also attending the program discussed political documentaries, while some of the documentaries were also reviewed.
The documentary “Scenes from an Aspiration” by Iranian filmmaker Vahid Sedaqat was also reviewed in this program.
source: Tehran Times