A new short film, Vitória Régia, imagines a dystopian 2025 in which a far-right coup succeeds in Brazil, leading to the assassination of the president, the closure of Congress, and the surrender of the Amazon rainforest to the United States. The film, directed by Denis Kamioka, known as Cisma, presents a nightmare scenario that Brazil narrowly avoided after the 2022 election.
In the film, a North American soldier welcomes journalists to the 'Amazon of America' during a propaganda tour of an oil refinery. A replica of the Statue of Liberty stands in the jungle, symbolising US control over more than half of Brazil. The plot mirrors real-life events: after Jair Bolsonaro's 2022 election loss, his supporters attempted a coup, which failed, leading to his imprisonment.
The film's lead character, Carol, played by Alice Braga, is a Brazilian journalist barred from entering the Amazon without a visa. Indigenous leaders disappear, and a news blackout hides environmental destruction. Harold Goldman, head of oil firm Amazon X, celebrates US dominion over the rainforest's resources.
Kamioka noted that the film was shot in March 2025, before US President Donald Trump ordered the abduction of Nicolás Maduro. 'It was frightening the extent to which reality and fiction became mixed up,' he said. Braga added, 'We were making a fiction film … but then the US ended up taking this political stance with Trump … and the film became almost a documentary.'
The 21-minute film was made with Indigenous networks Coiab and Apib to highlight threats to Brazil's Indigenous peoples. Ywyzar Tentehar, an Indigenous actor, said she hoped the project would draw attention to ongoing invasions of Indigenous lands by loggers, ranchers, and land-grabbers.
The film's release coincides with real political tensions: Flávio Bolsonaro, son of Jair, is challenging leftwing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in this year's election. Activists fear a return to the deforestation and anti-Indigenous policies seen under Jair Bolsonaro's 2019-23 administration. Braga urged voters to carefully study candidates to avoid repeating past mistakes.
