Dilma Rousseff

Aécio Neves

Eduardo Cunha

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Jair Bolsonaro

During 2016, a film crew embeds inside the Brazilian Congress while lawmakers plot to overthrow the country's elected president, Dilma Rousseff.

The impeachment and removal from office of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in 2016 was triggered by a corruption scandal involving, among others, her then vice-president Michel Temer. Director Maria Augusta Ramos follows the trial against Rousseff from the point of view of her defence team. This is a courtroom drama that unfolds slowly: the appearances of the various parties gradually turn the proceedings into something akin to theatre. Inside the courtroom, grand emotions are played to full effect whilst, on the other side of the doors, lobbyists and supporters pace the corridors. Meanwhile, outside, in front of Brasília’s modernist government buildings, demonstrators are chanting like a Greek chorus. Only the main character, Rousseff herself, remains professional and aloof.

The film follows the final days of Brazil’s 2022 presidential election through livestreams and edits on the Chinese social media platform TikTok, which at that time had around 80 million active users in the country.

To understand the obsession with federal deputy and presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro (PSL) and how his network of support is structured on the internet, VICE went to São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul to investigate its largest bases of support in the country.

From childhood to the presidency of Brazil, the documentary follows Jair Bolsonaro’s trajectory, tracing his background, military career, and the path that led to his political rise.

An intimate and revelatory portrait of one of the world’s most influential political figures, Lula explores the rise, fall and triumphant return of beloved Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, chronicling his extraordinary journey in 2022 to regain the Brazilian presidency after spending nineteen months in prison.