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Acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker and activist Fernando Grostein Andrade speaks reality and like to energy in his newly launched documentary Breaking Myths. Extensively recognized for his acclaimed work on Breaking the Taboo, which facilities on the battle on medicine, Andrade is telling a deeply weak story of queer existence inside the broader context of a poisonous political environment below far-right ideologue President Jair Bolsonaro. The LGBTQ+ neighborhood has turn out to be a selected goal for Bolsonaro’s hateful rhetoric. As a queer younger man in Brazil, Fernando grew up amidst the crushing stress of a society that noticed no place for him. His political activism and advocacy for others like him put him at immense danger. Nonetheless, he continued, unwavering in his mission to present the unvoiced a voice and inform tales of resilience, love, and insurrection within the face of oppression. That is his story.
I’ve been killed a number of instances. The primary time, I used to be 10. My father, journalist Mário de Andrade, editor of Playboy journal, died of a coronary heart assault. I bear in mind throwing a hibiscus flower in his grave, hoping that one thing can be reborn. As a substitute, I turned a shy and introspective boy. I discovered my peace within the artwork of caring for orchids. I used to be fascinated by the cycle of life and loss of life of the bulbs.
On the age of 12, a TV station aired my story. A boy who grew vegetation to flee the ache of grief. I used to be proud however began to be known as “flower boy” in school. It’s an especially merciless assault as a result of, as a child, we don’t have a transparent notion of our sexuality. So, when folks name us issues, we don’t even know what it means. That triggers worry and rejection. Society pressured me to be heterosexual, to turn out to be “macho.” Buddies pressured me to lose my virginity to a Playboy Bunny at 17. Briefly: Homophobia stole my total adolescence.
There are a number of methods to kill a queer particular person. First, you may kill a queer particular person by bodily attacking them or taking away their dignity. Among the many homosexual neighborhood, suicide is an issue that impacts all ages. Final 12 months, The Trevor Undertaking surveyed 34,000 younger folks between the ages of 13 and 24, and 45 p.c of them admitted that they had “significantly thought of” suicide. Within the age group of 13 to 17 years, the quantity reaches 50 p.c.
A homosexual couple hugs close to an indication that reads "Bolsonaro out" throughout the twenty sixth Sao Paulo Homosexual Satisfaction Parade on June 19, 2022, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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I've been the goal of assaults and hate messages for a few years, however the ever-increasing quantity of threats peaked in 2018, months earlier than the presidential election. That was after I acquired a message on Fb that I ought to cease speaking about politics; in any other case, my funeral would wish to happen with a sealed coffin. I used to be terrified. It was not an remoted case.
It began throughout the making of my documentary Quebrando o Tabu (Breaking the Taboo), launched in 2011, wherein I focus on whether or not drug customers needs to be handled with medication quite than punished and imprisoned. I bear in mind one of many police chiefs I interviewed (later arrested) telling me that the drug challenge needed to do with households of “man with man.” The lightest accusations mentioned I used to be a drug addict and a legal supporter.
Along with the documentary, a Fb web page, additionally known as Quebrando o Tabu, was created. The web page turned an vital voice for human rights on the web, reaching 21.1 million followers so far, together with on Instagram, Twitter, and Fb. With the web page, the assaults elevated. I acquired threatening messages from individuals who knew my tackle, the locations I typically went to, and even my turtle’s identify. Lastly, in September 2015, the web page was hacked, and infiltrators posted an image of a cranium and a knife. Just a few days later, Fb managed to reset the web page for us.
The threats elevated in 2017 after I posted a 15-minute video on YouTube known as “Cê Já Se Sentiu um ET?” (Did you ever really feel like an ET?), wherein I talked about being homosexual. Among the many violent messages I acquired, one supported the concept I needs to be overwhelmed so I might be taught to be a person. However the escalation of hatred had simply begun, and it will solely worsen with the upcoming elections and an more and more tense political environment within the nation.
When the specter of the closed coffin got here in 2018, I known as the previous president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, one of many interviewees in Quebrando o Tabu and an ideal buddy. I requested for recommendation. He launched me to a lawyer, who mentioned that segments of the police and the Judiciary department agreed with the ideology of the individuals who had been intimidating me. And thus, I might not be protected in Brazil until I saved my mouth shut. I accepted the lawyer’s recommendation and advised my household that I would go away Brazil and transfer to California. Then, I began to arrange my departure, absolutely conscious that I used to be privileged as a result of there have been extra weak folks than me, with nobody to show to or nowhere to flee.
My guilt for leaving my nation, pals, and household behind made me take motion, resorting to creating motion pictures, which is what I understand how to do. So, I made a decision to make a documentary concerning the lifetime of Jair Bolsonaro. Along with journalist Carol Pires, who investigated Bolsonaro’s upbringing for a podcast concerning the president, we arrange a workforce for the movie. Interviews passed off in Eldorado, within the inside of São Paulo, Bolsonaro’s hometown, and in Rio de Janeiro and Brasília. However sadly, it turned out that the end result was deemed “not-watchable.”
Final December, after I contemplated whether or not or to not change the movie’s general construction, I skilled quite a lot of burnout. My husband, actor Fernando Siqueira, inspired me to maintain going and helped me get the movie restructured and completed. Fernando taught me a lot. He's proud to be queer and is moved by the enjoyment of residing. He's a homosexual man who shouldn't be ashamed about who he's. On that observe, he proposed I add extra of my story, contemplating we acquired the identical notes from filmmakers we admire. With that, the movie turned about my life story, intertwined with Bolsonaro’s trajectory. The movie is titled Quebrando Mitos (Breaking Myths) and premiered Sept. 16 on YouTube.
I left Brazil due to worry. This sense, nevertheless, didn't silence me. I'll by no means cease calling consideration to essentially the most related points, such because the very survival of the homosexual neighborhood. Within the film Breaking Myths, I made a decision to open my life and reveal my vulnerabilities as a solution to set off a significant dialogue between homosexual males and their households. Homophobia silences, erases, and kills. Love and reception make us stronger to face any storm, which like this authorities, will go.