An International Cultural Machine: In the Wake of the Bolsonaro Movie

What is the connection between Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here) and far-right conspiracy theories? Recent news following Jair Bolsonaro’s arrest indicates that a transnational narrative machine is developing a feature film in which the former president is portrayed heroically.

Originally published in *Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil*

By Ramon Fernandes Lourenço

December 5, 2025

The film is set to be released in 2026, and its poster has already been shared on social media.

In the wake of the unfolding headlines reacting to Jair Bolsonaro’s arrest on Saturday, November 22, information began to emerge across various news outlets regarding the filming of a feature-length movie that aims to tell his story in a romanticized and “heroic” fashion. The first report on this audiovisual production dates back to October of this year, but curiously, over this past week, several media outlets replicated the information, albeit with few details.

What is known is that the film will chronicle Bolsonaro’s journey starting from the 2018 presidential race, placing significant emphasis on the stabbing incident involving Adélio Bispo. This episode will set the tone for the plot, as the movie will evoke the trope of the “unlikely winner” who fights against drugs and organized crime while facing left-wing conspiracies.

Beyond the timing of these recent reports and the attempt to build a myth around the romanticization of Jair Bolsonaro, the announcement of the film reveals far more than just a reaction to the recent arrest of the radical right leader in Brazil: it points to major connections within the conservative transnational cultural machine dedicated to constructing narratives, ideologies, and reputations. An analysis of the initial production team members revealed by the press shows a presence of Americans, Mexicans, and Brazilians — countries with a strong footing in international conservative networks and direct ties to a crucial agent in the internationalization of the radical right: the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

The Geopolitical Narrative Machine

CPAC is an American event born in 1974 with the objective of structuring the foundations of the US conservative movement. Throughout its early years, the conferences focused on drawing lines between the two American parties, Republicans and Democrats, with annual agendas exploring the threats that liberal Democrats supposedly posed to the nation. However, CPAC has operated on multiple levels since its inception, notably serving to unite and expand the American conservative movement beyond domestic issues, shaping international relations with strategic countries.

More recently, CPAC took an even sharper turn toward international affairs by launching global editions of its conference. These movements took place in parallel with the rise of Donald Trump during his first presidential term, culminating in the first international edition, held in Japan in 2017. Since then, the event has expanded, accumulating nine host countries by 2025, coordinating a massive international community around its agendas, leaderships, and ideologies.

In Latin America, besides the annual US editions, conferences have been held in Argentina (2024), Brazil (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025), and Mexico (2022, 2024, and 2025). This geography sheds light on the connections within the production team of the Bolsonaro film, where Americans, Mexicans, and Brazilians converge. To explore the deeper connections of these agents within the broader radical-right network tied to CPAC, one must look closely at the subtle relationships built by the main names mentioned in the press, identifying points of intersection that go beyond nationality, constituting relationships that have been under construction for years.

Ainda Estou Aqui vs. Right-Wing Discourse

It is necessary here to delve into the history of CPAC Brazil and its relationship with Eduardo Bolsonaro in his role as the international coordinator for radical-right movements. The first edition of the event in the country took place in 2019, spearheaded by Eduardo Bolsonaro, with the goal of strengthening the nation’s conservative movement. Since then, the event — organized by the Conservative-Liberal Institute (ICL) — has gathered conservative politicians and leaders from around the world to debate themes such as “freedom of speech” and the “fight against communism.” Over the years, it became the primary stage for the right in the country, bringing together figures like Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s Javier Milei.

It was onto this very stage that the film’s screenwriter stepped: the Brazilian Mario Frias, a former actor and former Secretary of Culture under the Bolsonaro administration, who carries a long list of controversies from his time in government. Among the most recent is one involving another movie, the acclaimed Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here). While the country paused to watch the Oscar ceremony, anticipating the Best Actress award for Fernanda Torres and Best International Feature (an accolade that did indeed happen), Frias claimed that the work was a form of “psychological manipulation” and a piece of “communist disinformation.” Frias is a staunch defender of the Bolsonaro family and has direct links to CPAC Brazil, having participated as a panelist in the 2024 edition. On that occasion, he argued that the only viable right-wing candidate for 2026 was Jair Bolsonaro, pushing back against the fragmentation brewing among governors who were positioning themselves as alternatives after the Supreme Court’s ruling on the former president’s ineligibility.

QAnon and “The Devil’s Workshop”

By exploring the international connections forged through these domestic gatherings, we can identify another link to the Jair Bolsonaro feature film: the involvement of Eduardo Verástegui, who is listed as a producer for the movie and was one of the speakers at the 2024 Brazilian edition of CPAC. Verástegui, a Mexican former model, actor, and producer, is a well-known figure in radical-right movements. He leads the Movimiento Viva México, which seeks to become an extreme-right conservative party focused heavily on anti-abortion platforms, and has shown explicit support for Donald Trump’s policies.

Furthermore, he serves as the director of CPAC Mexico, the Latin edition boasting the highest number of panelists, which has coordinated a conservative network encompassing actors from across Latin America and the Caribbean, backed by strong US influence. Eduardo Verástegui is a vital link in weaving the transnational network built by CPAC, acting as a bridge between the Anglo-Saxon, European, and Latin worlds — a role illustrated by his active participation across multiple global editions. He has served as a panelist at CPAC Brazil 2024, Mexico 2024, Argentina 2024, USA 2025, Poland 2025, and CPAC Latino, held in Miami in 2025 to target the US Latino community.

In addition to this networking role, Verástegui operates several gears of the movement’s cultural machine, heading three US media companies and audiovisual distributors: Metanoia Films, Santa Fe Films, and Angel Studios — all focused on productions with religious and conservative messaging. Metanoia Films is the production house co-founded by Verástegui, Leo Severino, and Alejandro Monteverde with the goal of producing films with social and “pro-life” messages, such as the award-winning drama Bella (2006).

Angel Studios operates a video-on-demand service, hosting a slate of original titles produced by partner studios. Among them is the series The Chosen, which raised over $10 million for its production. The studio’s other major production, Sound of Freedom, was made in partnership with Santa Fe Films and mobilized a massive portion of the conservative community in Brazil, while drawing heavy controversy due to its ties to conspiracy theories. The film was one of the studio’s greatest successes. In Brazil, it was distributed by Brasil Paralelo through partnerships with church-affiliated entities to mobilize Evangelicals and Bolsonaristas to fill theaters, often using free ticket distribution. Furthermore, critics and experts linked the movie to the QAnon movement, which posits that global elites are part of a secret network of pedophiles and Satan-worshippers who are being targeted by politicians like Donald Trump (and, implicitly, Bolsonaro) in a hidden war.

The lead actor in the upcoming Jair Bolsonaro film, Jim Caviezel, also stars in Sound of Freedom, establishing a direct connection. Caviezel is frequently embroiled in controversies surrounding conspiracy theories, particularly QAnon, and regularly participates in conservative events in the United States, echoing talking points about a “satanic cabal” controlling power and claiming that the Covid-19 vaccine was a form of gene therapy part of a depopulation project.

Caviezel’s stances reveal a deep ideological alignment that likely underpins the selection of the team behind the Bolsonaro movie. This includes the director, Cyrus Nowrasteh, an American filmmaker known for historical dramas and films with religious and political themes. His works include The Young Messiah (2016) and Infidel (2019), a thriller also starring Jim Caviezel. The Brazilian actress Bianka Fernandes, named among the cast, built her career on the Record television network in biblical productions such as The Ten Commandments (2015) and Genesis (2021). Meanwhile, Sérgio Barreto and Felipe Folgosi, both Brazilian actors, recently shared the screen in the film Oficina do Diabo (The Devil’s Workshop, 2025), produced by Brasil Paralelo.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the connections outlined above demonstrate the framework of a transnational cultural machine that operates in a decentralized yet highly coordinated manner, focused on constructing, disseminating, and consolidating radical-right narratives on a global scale. The production of the film about Jair Bolsonaro is not an isolated event, but rather the latest output of this strategically articulated network, where agents and ideologies intersect to influence political debate and collective memory.

However, one particular detail stands out: filming the feature-length movie in English, with an American crew and partial US cast, signals the ultimate objective of the work. The target audience is no longer solely the Brazilian voter, but rather the international conservative and radical-right community. The film seeks to position Bolsonaro as an icon in the global crusade against the left, attempting to elevate him to the same status as Donald Trump and Javier Milei. This direction reinforces the thesis that the cultural machine does not focus on national issues, but rather on building a unified political identity, where the narratives of leaders are interchangeable and internationally validated. Ultimately, the cultural machine described here, culminating in the film about the former president, demonstrates that the battle for ideological hegemony has transcended national borders, weaponizing entertainment as one of the primary tools for political mobilization and the rewriting of history in real time.

Ramon Fernandes Lourenço holds a degree in Social Communication, a Master’s in Information Science, and is a PhD candidate in the Postgraduate Program in Contemporary Integration of Latin America (PPG-ICAL) at the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA), where he researches the narrative constructions of the extreme right on the continent.