ABC of a Strike, Intermissions

This extraordinary evening of films sets the stage for a winter of Brazilian culture and art at the Wexner Center.

Showing for the first time ever outside of Brazil, ABC of a Strike captures the 1979 metal workers strikes outside of São Paulo. The footage sat untouched until after the death of highly regarded director Leon Hirszman in 1987, by which time the material had a new relevance. The gripping film captures the negotiations between the labor unions and the factory bosses and shows the birth of the region’s Worker’s Party, as well as the emergence of its charismatic leader, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (known as “Lula”). Rising from extreme poverty, Lula gained national prominence as a union activist during the late 70s and early 80s. After being jailed during his time as a union leader, he eventually become Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010. (86 mins., video)

The evening starts with a short film, The Uprising, that presciently anticipated the protests that took to the streets in Brazil this past summer as it documents a chaotic horse race that the director staged in downtown Recife. The Uprising is also featured in the Cruzamentos exhibition along with other related materials from the race. (8 mins., video)

The second film, screening at 8:45 PM, found João Moreira Salles, perhaps the finest documentary filmmaker of his generation, with complete access to Lula during the hectic 2002 campaign season. Salles fills his film with intimate behind-the-scenes footage of the campaign trail, focusing on the “intermissions” between the big public events that dominate campaign coverage. Lula’s candor and charisma comes across whether he’s bantering at his regular barbershop or debating with his campaign team on a cramped private plane. Intermissions not only provides great insight into one of the most fascinating world leaders of our time—Esquire named him “one of the most influential people of the 21st century”—but it ranks alongside The War Room as one of the most perceptive and candid political documentaries ever. (117 mins., video)