Documentary about the trajectory of the Brazilian journalist, writer and politician Fernando Gabeira. With testimonies of Armínio Fraga, Aguinaldo Silva, Leda Nagle, among others.
Throughout his journey, Fernando Gabeira seems to have lived several lives and embodied multiple characters - journalist, guerrilla, writer, politician - always on the front line, a non-stop militant. Despite the dominant balanced personality, Gabeira represents several important periods of the national scene: he participated on the kidnapping of the American ambassador Charles Elbrick in 1969 (that yielded the book and the film O Que é Isso, Companheiro? (1997)), was a political prisoner, lived in exile, shook morals and good manners wearing a crocheted thong on Ipanema beach and giving speeches on marijuana. He was a federal deputy and had an intense involvement in the Green Party (Partido Verde, PV). It is difficult to mention one relevant theme of national life that has not been manifested or acted upon. The documentary interweaves the main interview to archive footage and testimonials - from ex-wives to the current one, the daughters Tami and surfer Maya, and includes admirers like Nelson Motta, cousin Leda Nagle, journalist Cora Rónai, or the economist Armínio Fraga, who classifies Gabeira as a "liberal with a heart".—Susana Schild
The documentary reveals the libertarian personality of Fernando Gabeira, with the most memorable, controversial or curious passages of his life. "Gabeira is the only free man I know. People think they know him, but the film brings some good surprises", says the director Moacyr Góes. Among the stories, some of them unpublished, such as when he turned down a fortune from a famous businessman to his campaign for Rio's City Hall, in 2008. And other emblematic ones, such as the kidnapping of the American ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick, in 1969. Recurring events, like the famous purple crocheted thong and the break-up with the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) are also in the documentary, which is co-produced by Globo Filmes and GloboNews and released by Gávea Filmes. Among the interviewees, a highlight to the poet Ferreira Gullar on his last testimony.—Maria Fortuna
To tell the trajectory of the journalist and politician - and especially to present his ideals - is the goal of "Gabeira", a documentary by Moacyr Góes.
Son of Lebanese parents, Gabeira manifested an argumentative spirit as a child. He was expelled from colleges and left the city of Juiz de Fora, his hometown, to travel to Rio de Janeiro. He became a journalist, worked for the newspaper Jornal do Brasil and published articles in other periodicals. Influenced by the existentialist thinking of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) and by the political inclination of the couple, Gabeira identified with Marxist ideals. His military history started with the 8th October Revolutionary Movement (MR8). "We were not supporters of democracy," he says in the film. The regime was seen by Gabeira and other militants as weak. "It took a dictatorship of the proletariat for us to arrive in a world where men did not exploit men," he says. With this ideal in mind, issues such as freedom of speech were secondary.
To achieve a radical result, militants believed that extreme attitudes were necessary. It was in late 1969 that a group kidnapped Charles Elbrick. Gabeira was responsible for renting the house where Elbrick stayed, as well as carrying messages and the list of prisoners who should be released in exchange for the ambassador. "We had hijacked a symbol, but that soon gave space to a human being," says Gabeira in the film. According to him, an empathy relationship developed between hijackers and hijacked. In an interview with Elbrick ten years after the incident, the American says he was impressed with the dedication of the young people. The kidnapping raises debates on the validation of that action till this date, and the documentary does not propose to put an end to the discussion. "It is a blunt criticism of the armed action method," says the director Moacyr Góes.
Identified by the military, Gabeira tried to escape and was shot through his stomach, liver and kidney. He started being questioned at the hospital and took electric shocks while recovering. He was released along with 39 other prisoners in exchange for the release of former German ambassador Ehrenfried von Holleben, then abducted, but had to leave the country. He spent nine years traveling the world. He was in Algeria, Cuba, Chile and Sweden. He lived the communist regime of Fidel Castro and the military coup that took Salvador Allende from power in Chile in 1973.
With the amnesty, returned to Brazil in 1979 to cause controversy - in politics and outside. In the summer of 1980, he appeared on Ipanema beach wearing only a pink crocheted thong. He also defended the rights of homosexuals and the legalization of marijuana, two controversial themes that gave him varied nicknames that lasts to this day. It was a scandal for the time. "The struggle of the left was very much associated with virility," says Gabeira.
When he returned to the country after the exile, he made some of the first criticisms of the armed struggle, at the same time he went on military duty for other causes, such as the preservation of the environment. These concepts revision permeated his trajectory and gains intensity on his testimonies in the documentary. He was married three times and had two daughters, psychologist Tami and surfer Maya Gabeira. The film reveals that he wanted a family life while fighting against the Brazilian conservative traditional family model.
He continued to advocate left-leaning causes, but he was also in favor of privatizing companies like Telerj, which he saw as a barrier on progress. Support for privatization was considered a betrayal by former militant comrades. Journalist Cora Rónai says in the film, however, that Gabeira will always be "a figure of the left". Economist Armínio Fraga says he is a "liberal with a heart". These are definitions that show an apparent contradiction, but for Moacyr Góes they point to a maturity of ideas.
Gabeira helped found the Green Party (Partido Verde, PV) in 1986, for which he ran for president three years later. He joined the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) and supported the candidacy of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but left the party a few months after the candidate became president in 2003. The breakup was controversial. Gabeira says the divergence was unsustainable. Ecology, a subject so dear to the politician, was seen by PT leaders as a "fashion". He came to accompany a trip celebrating Lula's victory over Cuba. According to Gabeira, it was clear that they were attached to a network of nostalgia.
Life in politics has spread. The journalist ran for the city hall, the government of Rio de Janeiro, was a federal deputy for four consecutive terms and changed his party on several occasions. In 2011, at the end of the fourth term, he decided to abandon politics. Defender of the Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato), says that the operation only opened the decadence of the Brazilian party system. He returned to journalism with a TV show on GloboNews, a decision that can be seen as the closing of a cycle. For a man who fought for such radical changes in Brazilian society, today, at age 76, he is content with a dream he considers much more modest. "It is the dream of a person who seeks to distance himself from cynicism."
"Gabeira's Trajectory"
From the armed struggle against the military dictatorship to acting as a federal deputy, the politician participated in important moments of the recent history of Brazil.
1941: Fernando Gabeira is born, in Juiz de Fora, MG.
1963: Moves to Rio de Janeiro.
1969: Participates on the kidnapping of former US ambassador Charles Elbrick.
1970: He is arrested, tortured and exiled.
1979: Returns to Brazil through amnesty and launches the book "O Que é Isso, Companheiro?".
1980: Appears on Ipanema beach wearing a crocheted swimsuit thong, shocking society.
1986: Competes to the government of Rio by the Green Party (Partido Verde, PV).
1994: Elected for Federal deputy by the Green Party (Partido Verde, PV).
2002: Supports Lula to the presidency of Republic, but breaks with the Workers' Party (Partido dos Trabalhadores, PT) one year later.
2008: Candidates to the prefecture of Rio de Janeiro and loses to Eduardo Paes.
2011: He ends his fourth consecutive term as a federal deputy.
2013: Begins to present the TV show of interviews and reports "Fernando Gabeira", in GloboNews.
