Central to the story is the connection between TNA and the election campaign. The former studio boss is head of the election campaign of the conservative candidate for governorship whose populist attitude is concealed in modern discourse. The opposition endorses a black candidate, whose election campaign is organized by Chico Silva, a respected representative of the Left. Bia, the journalist, once loved him. She supports Alex, a young reporter who wants to uncover political corruption but who is primarily interested in furthering his career on television. A relationship of personal and political conflicts between Bia, Chico and Alex develops.

In our world today cynical and utopian reason no longer present a contrast. The film DOCES PODERES shows this phenomenon from different points of view, i.e. the mass media, political power and media specialists. What makes the film important is the fact that Brazil is used as an illustration of this phenomenon, a country in which a young democracy co-exists with perverse capitalism.

The film wants to investigate the methods politics uses to mobilize election campaigns. This is of crucial importance to understand the country we live in. The huge sums of money which flow into the election campaign make it inevitable that advertising people, editors, journalists, filmmakers and directors enter this market. The choice of candidates to whom they will sell their media expertise depends entirely on financial criteria. Driven by the need to survive, lost in their dreams the question of ethics has become outdated to them. Without any mannerism whatsoever, the film shows the schizophrenia and brutality of their relationships. The viewer is given the opportunity to get involved and to think about Brazil. At the end of this century the film poses the question: how can we survive all these contradictions, is there no myth at the end of this tunnel? DOCES PODERES belongs to that category of films which assumes an intelligent, critical viewer. Apart from dealing with Brazil's political structure the film deals with questions which are a concern to the whole world: the role of money in human relationships, the new role of the media, the ethical crisis.

(Lúcia Murat, September 1996)

The team responsible for sound suggested we use the composition 'Dona de Castelo' by Wally SalomÆo and Macalé as a musical motif. The film primarily deals with Bia's narrative, played by Marisa Orth. And 'Dona do Castelo' (The Lady of the Castle) speaks metaphorically about a split personality continually trying to deceive herself and others. The music was ideal, an original version which reinforced the film's feminine touch. Adriana Calcanhoto and Sacha Amback did this work. The result is one of the high points of DOCES PODERES.

(Tárik de Souza)

Lúcia Murat was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1949. She is a journalist for some of the most important television stations and daily newspapers. In the nineties she made educational programs about Brazilian history and literature and about the image of women in Brazilian film. She made her first films in the 1980s: O Pequeno Exército Louco (1984), a medium length documentary about the civil war in Nicaragua and her own role as an activist during the military dictatorship and Que bom te ver viva (1988), her first feature film about women tortured during a military dictatorship.