2024-04-20 16:24:15
Ângela Diniz was murdered by her boyfriend with three shots to the face and one to the back of the head. They had only been together four months and the outcome was dramatic. A crime that scandalized Brazil in 1976. But the fact that her boyfriend was sentenced to just two years in prison and left free, because he had already been in preventive prison, triggered a wave of revolt across the country. The Court accepted the argument of his lawyer, who claimed that it had been a crime in defense of honor.
A true case that is reported in the film Angelaby Brazilian director Hugo Prata, which will be shown today at 7pm at CinéStarlight in Dudelange, on the penultimate day of the Brazilian Cinema Festival.
Hugo Prata, director of the film “Ângela”. © Credits: Anouk Antony
“This was a highly publicized case in Brazil that caused a national commotion. At the time, what was most impressive was the brutality of the crime and the fact that, in the first trial, the murderer, having claimed self-defense of honor, was released from court because he had already served two years in pre-trial detention. It was a scandal that provoked a strong reaction from feminists who created the “who loves doesn’t kill” movement, recalls Hugo Prata. After this challenge, there was a second trial in which the murderer was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
In the first trial, “the defense lawyer’s strategy was to disqualify the victim, saying that she was a very seductive woman, that she had many boyfriends, that she took drugs, trying to blame her for the crime. Using these arguments to justify the fact that her boyfriend shot her four times”, elaborates the director.
The film’s narrative shows “the four months that the abusive relationship lasted, from the time they met in August until he killed her in December”, narrates Hugo Prata. But why did he decide to tell this story?
“After finishing the film about Elis Regina, I felt the desire to make a new biography of a Brazilian woman who deserved to have her life told on screen. In my art, I always try to add something, because the role of art is to change things”, she highlights. Hugo Prata practices militant art that wants to provoke reflection and change.
Violence against women soars
Last year, the numbers of violence against women broke records again in Brazil, where every six hours there is a crime of feminicide.
Brazilian Film Festival in Luxembourg honors women
“Even here in Luxembourg, violence against women is growing and that is why it is necessary, more than ever, to bring this reflection”, he describes.
“I try to alert women and men to how an abusive relationship is born because it is almost always the same. It starts with manipulation, when a fragile woman meets a man who presents himself in a seductive and protective way,” she reports.
“Here in Luxembourg, for example, there are several cases of men who want a Brazilian woman, because she is sensual, bring them to Luxembourg and then end up locking them in the house and starting to be abusive”, he describes.
Often it all starts with little blaming phrases: “I do everything for you and you make me lose my mind.”
“Even Angela was a woman with a very strong personality, how did she let herself fall into a situation like this and what was the trigger?”, he asks. The film aims to be a reminder of this imminent danger of the tragic outcome of abusive relationships.
“I intend to warn women not to let themselves be carried away by situations like this”, he reiterates.
Hugo Prata recalls that feminicide is already covered by law in Brazil and is surprised when he realizes that this crime does not yet exist in Luxembourg. “How is it that this is a more developed society than Brazil, and in this aspect Brazil is ahead?”, he asks.
Before the film’s presentation, starting at 5pm, a debate will take place at CineStarlight on the topic of violence against women.
2024-04-20 16:24:15