Like large-scale tattoos, colourful murals and graffiti adorn the urban body of Belo Horizonte, a densely populated city in southeastern Brazil. Composed largely of static shots, Marcos Pimentel’s poignant documentary conjures an awe-striking tapestry of artistic expression and revolutionary resistance.

Imposing in terms of size, these sprawling street artworks range from kaleidoscopic portraits to fabulously surreal tableaux vivants. For some passersby, these majestic images amount to nothing more than a cool selfie backdrop. Pimentel’s film, however, takes a closer look, lingering on painted words that speak of a yearning for love and intimacy. These utterances of private desire exist side by side with protest slogans calling for Jair Bolsonaro’s resignation and condemning the police. Weaving together the personal and political, Pimentel’s film sees street art as a crucial form of political advocacy at a time when dissenting voices are cruelly repressed.

Echoing this collective desire for change, the film’s ambient soundtrack gradually gives way to the sounds of anti-Bolsonaro demonstrations, whose ferocious chants encircle the cityscape like a wake up call. Shouts demanding justice for Marielle Franco, a Brazilian city councillor assassinated for her outspoken views, are accompanied by moving murals paying tribute to her legacy.

In addition to their potency as a conduit of creative and political thoughts, the artworks also become a means of cultural archive, bearing witness to state-sanctioned violence, wealth inequality, and brutal acts of oppression. Shot during Bolsonaro’s administration, the final scene of graffiti walls being knocked down may feel like an ominous display of destruction; however, considering the 2022 election in which Bolsonaro was unseated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the imagery gains a newfound optimism, gesturing towards a nation’s hopeful rebirth.

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