January 8th
BBC Brasil, July 2023
I filmed and edited this film.
The documentary reconstructs the events that led to and unfolded on January 8th, 2023 – a coup attempt that devastated the center of power in Brazil and tested the country's democracy.
We visited Brasília just a few weeks after the attacks, when the government buildings were still being cleared and restored. We were the first in the Brazilian press to publish a longform piece about those events, at least six months ahead of the rest. Though more facts have come to light in the years since, the film's account of events has remained accurate. The film has reached almost 4 million views and helped shape the public conversation about the coup attempt.
The short synopsis reads:
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“Just one week after the inauguration of the new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, supporters of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed and vandalized the seats of the three branches of government in Brasília: the National Congress, the Palácio do Planalto, and the Supreme Federal Court.
Unwilling to accept defeat at the ballot box and driven by misinformation and conspiracy theories, many of the Bolsonarista rioters believed the Armed Forces would topple the newly sworn-in government.
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Images of the destruction made headlines around the world. In this special documentary, our reporter Camilla Veras Mota and our video journalist Giovanni Bello travelled to Brasília to speak with witnesses to what happened that day and, with the help of experts, piece together the events that made the January 8th attacks possible.