Brazilian film-makers call for world to watch Oct. 25 presidential run-off
Brazil's most visible film-makers have called for the world to watch the final stretch of the country's presidential race.
Director Kleber Mendonça Filho and actor Wagner Moura are among Brazilian members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation behind the Oscars, to sign an open letter ahead of the second round on Oct. 25, as reported by Variety.
The run-off pits sitting president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against far-right challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former president Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro serves as a senator, while Lula is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term, Reuters reported ahead of the vote.
Both camps are now working to persuade undecided voters before the Oct. 25 decision, according to the Associated Press. The gap was tight. According to Variety's account of the letter, the first-round margin between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro stood at 1.87 percentage points.
The letter states that Flávio Bolsonaro has pledged to rewrite Brazil's 1988 Constitution. It also cites a report that the United States government directed about US$1 million from a State Department human rights fund to a programme titled "Countering Lawfare and Censorship in Brazil."
Other signatories named by Variety include producer Emilie Lesclaux, directors Fernando Meirelles, Alê Abreu, Petra Costa, Karim Aïnouz, Gabriel Mascaro, Carolina Markowicz, Anita Rocha da Silveira, Anna Muylaert and Laís Bodanzky, actors Alice Braga and Sônia Braga, producer Rodrigo Teixeira and Rio Film Festival director Ilda Santiago.
For context, Flávio Bolsonaro's father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, is under house arrest serving a sentence of 27 years and three months for plotting a coup d'état after losing the 2022 election. Polling had pointed to a close race before the first round. Whoever wins this time will fill a large number of posts across Brazil's most powerful institutions, Reuters reported.
Mendonça Filho directed Moura in "The Secret Agent," a thriller set in the 1970s. Brazil chose the film as its official entry for best international feature, the Oscars category for films made outside the United States, Variety reported in September 2025. The director and Lesclaux later held a Golden Globe together at the 2026 ceremony in January, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Attention is not limited to the industry. Students marched in downtown Rio de Janeiro on Oct. 7 to oppose the prospect of another Bolsonaro presidency, The Hindu reported.
What makes this stand out is the timing. Awards campaigning and a national election are running side by side, and two of Brazil's best-travelled film names are using one to draw eyes to the other.
