Essays on the Brazilian class struggle: memory, staging and archival materials in Once upon a time Brasilia (2017) and The Edge of Democracy (2019)

Abstract

Era uma vez Brasilia (2017), by Adirley Queiros, and Democracia em Vertigem (2019), by Petra Costa, are two contemporary documentary films that deal, each in its own way, with of the main political events in the Brazilian scenario, since the beginning of President Dilma Rousseff's second term, through an essayistic bias. Therefore, this article presents and discusses the essayistic vocation of both documentaries, with regard to the critique of the Brazilian political conjuncture.