Credit, Mario Frias/Reproduction
Director of the film on Jair Bolsonaro made by supporters and accompanied by the family of the former president, filmmaker Cyrus Nowrasteh says that the film, scheduled for release in 2026, the year of a new presidential election, will paint a “complex and honest portrait” of the Brazilian politician.
In an email interview with BBC News Brasil, the first time he spoke to the press about the film, Nowrasteh said he knew Bolsonaro was a “controversial and polarizing figure” in Brazil, but for that reason he deserved to be profiled.
“Isn’t a polarizing figure a fertile subject for a film? Shouldn’t artists be agents of disruption? Shouldn’t we question authority? Shouldn’t we challenge dominant opinions and narratives?” said Nowrasteh.
Nowrasteh, an American director of Iranian descent who has films with strong Christian and political appeal on his resume, is also responsible for editing. Black horse (something like “Azarão”, in free translation).
The recordings ended in December, in São Paulo, and the first images were broadcast on social networks in recent weeks by Bolsonian politicians and activists.
The idea and argument for the film come from federal deputy Mário Frias (PL-SP), former Secretary of Culture in the Bolsonaro government and one of the former president’s most virulent supporters in Congress.
Frias shared behind-the-scenes footage from the film on social media.
“@jairbolsonaro, everything for your victory!”, wrote the MP, projecting a scene in which he and Carlos Bolsonaro hear a prayer from Jim Caviezel, the actor who plays the former president, on the film set.
Director Cyrus Nowrasteh says he was developing another project to make in Brazil when an American producer put him in touch with the production company GoUp Entertainment, owned by Karina Ferreira da Gama and Mário Frias.
“They wanted to do something about Bolsonaro. I was impressed by Mário and his passion for the project. I knew that Bolsonaro was a controversial and polarizing figure, but also very popular,” explains the director.
Nowrasteh already had a relationship with Brazil as, in 1995, he co-wrote the screenplay for the Brazilian-American film Jenipapodirected by Monique Gardenberg, the same director of Oh father, oh (2007), whom she describes as an “extraordinary filmmaker”. In the story, an American journalist attempts to interview a priest who favors land reform in the Northeast.
Nowrasteh’s most recognized film is The stoning of Soraya M. (2008), which tells the story of a Muslim woman sentenced to death in a public square in Iran following a false accusation of adultery.
The film received some recognition: it won third place in the audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Canada.
Nowrasteh also directed The young Messiah (2016), about a young Jesus, and International kidnapping (2019), about a Christian journalist-blogger who becomes a prisoner in Iran after speaking about Jesus.
Your latest film, Sarah’s oil (2025), is about a black girl who believes the land she inherited is rich in oil. A New York Times review says the film has an “incidental reverence for fossil fuels.”
In a 2016 Fox News article, Nowrasteh explains that he did not grow up a traditional Christian because his family is Muslim. His approach to Christianity occurred after he married his wife, Betsy.
“I hope that those who already revere Jesus of Nazareth will love it even more,” he said of the film. The Young Messiah.
It is not yet known whether Bolsonaro’s portrait will have religious connotations. Black horse. The former president is Catholic, but he became closer to influential evangelical sectors of Brazilian politics, mainly through his wife Michelle.
The creator of the film, Mario Frias, is a Christian and, according to him, religion should be involved in politics. At a church service in Campinas in 2022, he said: “We Christians talk about politics today, so that we are not forbidden to talk about Jesus tomorrow. »
Credit, JB Lacroix/Getty Images
What to expect Black horse
With Frias, the director chose to focus on the story of Black horse during the 2018 assassination attempt, when Bolsonaro was stabbed in Juiz de Fora (MG), during a presidential election campaign event.
“I felt there were a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this event and that they were worth exploring in a film,” says Nowrasteh.
“I see work as a thriller contemporary politician, who will help illuminate much of what is happening in Brazil today – and around the world.
In the film, the former president remembers his life flashbacks while undergoing surgery. The film ends with Bolsonaro’s election that year, according to Frias.
All spoken in English, the film will have a dubbed version for Brazil. “We are looking for an international audience,” says Nowrasteh.
The director compares what he does in the film to filmmakers like the Greek-French Costa-Gavras, who became famous for making films about political denunciation, such as Z, State of siege And Disappeared – A great mystery.
He also takes as an example the American director Oliver Stone, winner of three Oscars and author of controversial films which question the official versions of historical facts.
The comparison with Stone is all the more significant since the director is the name behind the documentary. Lulascreened in 2024 at the Cannes Film Festival, France, on the trajectory of the Brazilian president in the years leading up to his victory in the 2022 elections.
Stone even said in interviews that “Lula was arrested for a frame-up. He proved it in the film,” indicating the production’s tone regarding the PT member’s arrest at Lava Jato in 2018. The documentary has not yet been officially released.
“Everyone focuses on polarizing themes and vigorously challenges ‘accepted opinions’. It’s a long and noble tradition. I just do the same thing,” Nowrasteh said.
Credit, Planalto Palace
Bolsonaro’s interpreter Black horse is an old acquaintance of Nowrasteh from his films and, according to Frias, the only possible choice for the role.
American Jim Caviezel gained international fame for playing Jesus in the film The Passion of Christ (2004), by Mel Gibson, marked by controversy in the United States for its violence and the accusation of allegedly promoting anti-Semitism by focusing on Jews as guilty of the death of the Messiah.
After this production, Caviezel focused his career on films with religious themes or arguments dear to the right.
Recorded in 2018 and financed by independent investors, the film tells the story of a US government agent who dismantles a child sex abuse ring operating in Colombia.
The film has also been associated by critics with the American QAnon movement – which propagates the theory that politicians like US President Donald Trump are waging a secret war against pedophile child traffickers and Satan worshipers who hold high-ranking positions in the US government, business and the country’s press.
A loyal Trump supporter and practicing Catholic, Caviezel agreed to play Bolsonaro without negotiating values, according to Mario Frias. He appears in photos alongside Carlos Bolsonaro, Mario Frias and other supporters of the former president on the film set.
Despite a clear ideological line from those involved in the production, Nowrasteh says it will present Bolsonaro “without varnish, as he is.”
BBC News Brasil asked the director if the film would present Bolsonaro as a “heroic figure.”
“Heroes are in the eye of the beholder, aren’t they? Everyone seems to have an opinion on the subject and the man. I’m not sure how many people will change their minds,” he replies.
“We don’t shy away from the controversies surrounding his 2018 campaign. It’s a complex and honest portrait. Look at the films I’ve made before this one, it’s the best indication of what this one will be like.”
Credit, Reproduction/Black horse
The producer has already received parliamentary amendments
The production of the film Black horse is the head of the company Go Up Entertainment, owned by Karina Ferreira da Gama.
The producer appears in public documents as responsible for renting the Memorial da América Latina, a cultural space in São Paulo, for the recordings. The value was R$126,000.
Gama is also president of the National Academy of Culture (ANC), a company which has already received, via parliamentary amendments from deputies of PL, Bolsonaro’s party, 2.6 million reais to produce a series on “national heroes”.
The businesswoman is also a partner in the Instituto conhecimento Brasil, which between 2024 and 2025 received more than 100 million reais from the city of São Paulo, led by Ricardo Nunes (MDB), an ally of Bolsonaro, to provide Wi-Fi Internet to low-income communities in the city last year, according to a report by Intercept Brasil.
Frias did not reveal the origin of the resources for the production of Black horse and said he would never do it with “public funds” or with the support of laws like Rouanet.
In interviews, he mentions that he received great support from SPCine, an agency of São Paulo City Hall, and the São Paulo government of Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans).
Director Cyrus Nowrasteh says he can’t talk about the film’s budget because he’s not the producer. Mário Frias, in interviews with right-wing channels, said the film had a “very low budget” by American industry standards, but did not reveal its financiers.
The São Paulo government and São Paulo City Hall told BBC News Brasil that they had not provided any support for the production.
“The SPCine authorized the recordings of the said film after technical analysis, following exactly the same procedure used in all requests received by the Municipality,” indicated the Town Hall.
Mario Frias and Karina da Gama did not comment on reports regarding the transfer of amendments and resources from City Hall. BBC News Brasil attempted to contact the two, but there was no response.
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