Actor Jim Caviezel told a U.S. podcast that the Lula regime made it illegal to show 'Dark Horse,' the Bolsonaro film, in Brazil. Its Brazilian distributor told O Globo no ban exists, and the film still has no release date.
NEW YORK — Actor Jim Caviezel told a U.S. podcast that the Lula regime censored “Dark Horse,” the film in which he plays Jair Bolsonaro, O Globo reported. Speaking to journalist Lara Logan, Caviezel said the film drew a standing ovation from American audiences and that, after the first screenings, “Lula and his partners got worried.” In his words, “they made it illegal for us to show this film there, before the elections. Now they are going to try to stop it from being shown once and for all.”
The film’s Brazilian distributor, Europa Filmes, says that is not what is happening. Its director-general, Wilson Feitosa, told O Globo: “There is no ban on its release in Brazil. We are still going through the normal procedures. Agencies like Ancine have acted with all the posture expected from a government body, with no complaints. We have no release date, but there is no ban and no reason for one.”
What the film is, and who is behind it
“Dark Horse” is directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and tells the story of Bolsonaro’s rise. Caviezel, known for “The Passion of the Christ” and “Sound of Freedom,” met Flávio Bolsonaro and Eduardo Bolsonaro last week at a CPAC dinner at Mar-a-Lago. Flávio is the same candidate who told The Washington Post that Trump no longer sees Brazil as a full democracy.
Why it matters
A claim of censorship made by a Hollywood name reaches American viewers faster than anything a Brazilian regulator publishes. That is why it has to be tested against the record, and why the Brazilian side cannot dismiss it with a denial alone. Washington is already weighing how to deal with a government whose legitimacy is contested by roughly half of its voters. A film about the opposition leader, held up in a state licensing process, is exactly the kind of fact that feeds that debate, whether or not anyone gave the order.
The record
What is documented: the film’s registration has been accepted by Ancine, the national film agency, but it does not yet have clearance for commercial release and still needs an age rating from the Justice Ministry. The distributor expects it to reach Brazil in 2027. In August, Feitosa said he did not consider it strategic to release the film during the campaign, and in September he said that, for “legal security,” the company was waiting for the Federal Police investigation. That investigation is the part that matters: in September the police ran an operation, authorized by Supreme Court justice Flávio Dino, with 49 search warrants, looking into suspected diversion of parliamentary amendments to entities linked to the film’s production. Targets included federal deputy Mário Frias (PL-SP) and producer Karina Gama of Go Up Entertainment. Frias sent R$ 2 million in amendments in 2024 to the Instituto Conhecer Brasil, which Gama chairs; the money was paid in February and October 2025.
What remains an allegation: Caviezel’s claim that the film was made illegal to show before the election. Nothing in the public record supports a formal ban, and the distributor denies one. What the record does show is a film with no release date, a licensing process still open and a police case against its financing, authorized by a justice of the same Court the opposition accuses of political persecution. That is not censorship by decree. It is the kind of slow squeeze that leaves no order to point to, and the Lula regime has not explained why a film about the former president should wait in line behind an investigation into its funding.
The Watch Post Daily will continue to follow this story. Sources: O Globo (Nov. 10, 2026); statements by Jim Caviezel to Lara Logan; Europa Filmes; Ancine; Federal Police.
Featured image: Jim Caviezel 2012 (6991397724) by Genevieve, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
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