The Trial

Synopsis

The Trial portrays the trial of Dilma Rousseff, focusing on the defense team, who struggles to prove her innocence against a majority vote by a Congress riddled with corruption. A tale of betrayal and corruption, the film presents Rousseff's personal story: herself imprisoned and tortured by the country's former military dictatorship, she now faces impeachment accused of fiscal crimes. Rousseff declares herself innocent and accuses the right-wing opposition of perpetrating a parliamentary coup d'état. The Trial witnesses how the impeachment triggers a profound political crisis in Brazil. It looks at the collapse of the democratic institutions and at the economic and geopolitical interests at the very heart of this crisis. The film offers a behind-the-scenes look at this historical moment. The filmmaker was granted unique access to the defense team, to deputies and senators and to President Rousseff herself. Ramos' technique is wholly observational, without interviews and narrations.