A 15 minute documentary directed by Jessie Sklair, Gibby Zobel and Dylan Howitt.

MAN'S VOICE 1 (VOICE OFF)
It’s been four times that he’s tried and lost, but this time there’s no stealing this from him.
MAN'S VOICE 2 (VOICE OFF)
It’s Lula in the head. 100% Lula.
MAN'S VOICE 3 (VOICE OFF)
Paulista’s gone red.
WOMAN'S VOICE (VOICE OFF)
He’s already won. It’s not possible he won’t win.

TITLE: The Shoeshine President. Fade out to black. Fade out music.]

[JOSÉ AGUIAR is selling the Brazilian street paper, OCAS, outside a cinema São Paulo.]
JOSÉ AGUIAR
Read OCAS! Coming up from the streets to fight poverty!
JOSÉ AGUIAR (VOICE OFF)
Brazil needs to be totally reformed, totally rebuilt and I think that the Workers Party is a way out. There's a lot of confidence ... confidence and hope, that if Lula becomes president of the Republic a lot of
things will change in Brazil.

FLAG WAVER 1
I'm going to vote for Lula and the Workers Party.
JESSIE (VOICE OFF)
Really? Why?
FLAG WAVER 2
Because we've had the same government for 8 years and things are only getting worse in Brazil, for me the only change is Lula, otherwise things are only going to carry on the same.
FLAG WAVER 2
I think he's really communist so I'm not going to vote for him. I've never liked the Workers Party.
FLAG WAVER 3
I don't think that Brazilians believe that anyone is going to change anything, we're vainly hoping that something will happen to improve things.
FLAG WAVER 4
I'm working for Geraldo and Serra's campaigns.
JESSIE
But you're going to vote for Lula?
FLAG WAVER 4
It's a free vote.

[Moving shot in fast motion along Avenida Paulista. TITLE: October 27, 2002. Election day.]
MAN 1
We're in front again ... Let's show we can do it ... Lula! It's Lula!
WOMAN 1
We've waited 12 years for this, I've waited ... Today's a day of glory, a day for partying, for everything.
MAN 2
I was outside Lula's apartment at 10 O'clock this morning. It was crazy. I'm so happy. Lula is going to help us. The poor owe him this, it was the majority of the poor who voted for him, us poor, I'm also poor. Viva Lula and his victory!
KIDS (singing)
Brazil, it's urgent, it's Lula for president!

EDUARDO COUTINHO
I don't know another story of an elected president with popular support who's only got primary level education.
[Cut to a series of comic book drawings depicting various moments in Lula's life. The drawings are accompanied by titles telling Lula's story.]
 
Title: A third of Brazilians live in poverty
Title: Lula came from this background
Title: He became a shoeshine boy
Title: then a metalworker.
Title: He joined the union
Title: then led a wave of illegal strikes
Title: against the military dictatorship.

EDUARDO COUTINHO (OFF)
Where did Lula come from? Lula only exists because he led some strikes in São Bernardo in 1979 and 1980 and as a result of this he became a national figure, left the union leadership, became a political leader, founded the Workers Party which came out of these strikes and now tomorrow is going to be elected president of the Republic. This was the biggest strike of the 20th century in Brazil. The history of Brazil doesn't have many social movements ... the majority of these people, 100 thousand people who went on strike, were first generation industrial workers. Lula was never a revolutionary, not even in the trade union, he was a guy who negotiated, he negotiated with the dictatorship, negotiated with the bosses, with the labourers, with the metalworkers, with the extreme left who demanded many things and he negotiated, he's a fantastic negotiator.

EDUARDO COUTINHO
Lula stood for president 3 times and lost ... and then he gathered strength ...and this time he decided to do something impure, he even allied himself with
his enemies from the right, because he said no, I want to win ... and Brazilians hate losers.

EDUARDO COUTINHO (OFF)
His whole election campaign was designed to please everyone ...

GUY SELLING COKE
Lula coke, it's just arrived ... I'm selling Lula coke, whoever drinks it won't regret it ... I'm already happy and he hasn't won yet, imagine when he wins! ... I hope I'm going to sell all this coke and that Lula will win.
MAN 1
This is unbelievable in this country, in the political history of the last 100 years, this is a people's revolution ... this means that any Brazilian, anyone can dream of becoming President of Brazil!
WOMAN 1 (SINGING)
Sing, sing my people, leave sadness behind, sing strong, sing loud, life is going to get better!
MAN 2
This is going to be an unforgettable government in this country which really needs it, Lula will bring morality to politics in this country, you can be sure.

JOSÉ DIRCEU (OFF)
In a way the world is going to create a balance to globalization and the PT is a small part of this movement that's going to end up bringing lots of
left-wing governments into power.

[TITLE: Pay attention to Mr. Pih. Cut to interview with LAWRENCE PIH.]
LAWRENCE PIH
Make yourself at home.
LAWRENCE PIH
When you speak of the globalization of the economy,
to whom does it favour?

LAWRENCE PIH
Basically the G7, that want the larger market ...

LAWRENCE PIH
... and relatively low commodity prices ...

LAWRENCE PIH
... and so this perpetuates the poverty in counties like Brazil.

 LAWRENCE PIH
This model obviously is not working ...

LAWRENCE PIH
... it has not worked in Argentina, it has not worked in Latin America.

LAWRENCE PIH
We have about 35 billion dollars in reserve today and we owe 240 billion dollars. If all our creditors say okay, we want our 240 billion dollars back, we will not be able to pay.

LAWRENCE PIH
The United States of America today has about 6.3 trillion dollars in debt.

LAWRENCE PIH
The Japanese government owes more than 100% of GDP in debt.

LAWRENCE PIH
Canada same thing.

LAWRENCE PIH
Italy same thing.

LAWRENCE PIH
The central economies of the world have this message for the developing countries like Brazil:

LAWRENCE PIH
Do what I say, but don't do what I do.

LAWRENCE PIH
With the EU, the world trade organisation, with ALCA, with everything, we renegotiate. We will stand up to our rights now. We are a little tired of just giving over our market. Globalization has been very good for those that export, but it hasn't been so good for us.

MARCOS JOSÉ DIAS (OFF)
The soul of it is in misery and poverty.

GIANCARLO SUMMA (OFF)
We have 30 million people starving.

GILMAR MAURO (OFF)
1% of landowners own 46-50% of the land in Brazil ...
In the 60s and 70s there was a great rural exodus from the countryside to the cities, around 30 million people left the countryside and came to the cities.

LAWRENCE PIH (OFF)
You have to worry also about the fact that there are 53 million Brazilians under the poverty line. You have to worry about the fact that there are 12 million unemployed in Brazil.
GILMAR MAURO (OFF)
The violence, the chaos of the cities ...
There's a significant part of the Brazilian middle class and the Brazilian elite that's really stupid, that creates poverty by concentrating wealth and then ends up having to build domestic prisons, your own home
becomes a prison and your kids can't go out in the street because if they go out in the street they'll be assaulted.

MARCOS JOSÉ DIAS
The misery is here, and if no-one does anything about it, about education and poverty, there's no way of going forward.

GILMAR MAURO
If we distribute a little bit of profit, a little bit of wealth, it's possible to create a more equal society from an economic and social point of view, and this will obviously mean great advances for Brazil.

[TITLE: Election Night 12.30am]
LULA
Thank you very much because without you I wouldn't be anyone.

LULA
We need to guarantee that every man and every woman, however poor they may be, has the right to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every holy day.

LULA
My mother used to say, my son, the only thing a man cannot lose is the right to walk with his head held high and to look in the eyes of the people he is talking to.
LULA
I have told you, that until now, things have been easy.
The difficult part will start now.

LULA
God bless every one of you and God give us the health and the courage to change the history of Brazil and make this a happier country in which our
people can live with dignity.

SÉRGIO GWERCMAN (OFF)
I sometimes get a little bit worried about it being just like a very beautiful story, and I don't want to be a very beautiful story, I want to be part of a reality.
[TITLE: Lula takes office, January 1, 2003, Brasília]

GENESIA FERREIRA DA SILVA MIRANDA (OFF)
I believe in this government, but it's not enough for us to trust a politician that we've elected, we have to accompany the political process, we have to demand what we've been promised.

GLIMAR MAURO (OFF)
You can't construct a democracy from above, if the people don't participate, don't discuss things, aren't conscious of what's going on and don't fight for change it's very difficult for change to take place.

ANGELA ARAUJO (OFF)
I think this is a special moment because I really believe that things are going to change. Things are going to change in Brazil, they have to change. It cannot stay like this anymore.
EDUARDO COUTINHO (OFF)
He's going to need extraordinary political strength because he's going to face the left of the Workers Party and the Brazilian right-wing and this is not going to be easy.
EDUARDO COUTINHO (OFF)
Of course it's going to be a huge problem for Lula to satisfy all these expectations, it's going to be impossible, this is totally obvious.

EDUARDO COUTINHO (OFF)
I've always voted for Lula. I think he's going to accomplish at the most 10% of what he's planning, but I think the only thing that matters is the symbolic importance of electing a workers' leader, not only in Brazil but in any country in Latin America and even in the whole world.
ENDS