Brazil elections: Filming for CNN and Al Jazeera

Last-minute protests, a surge in hate crimes, WhatsApp being “weaponised” to promote candidates, and a surprising lack of public debate have all made this one of the most unusual and tense presidential election campaigns in Brazil’s recent history. The country is divided, with the gap between the two candidates – the far-right Jair Bolsonaro and Workers’ Party Fernando Haddad – closing just three days ahead of the second-round vote, this Sunday 28th October.

A Story Productions' camera operator accompanied CNN’s Shasta Darlington, this week and last week, as she gauged public opinion of the two presidential candidates on the streets of São Paulo. Finding out what voters think is the biggest challenge facing the future president, was just one of the topics covered in the vox pops.

A Story Productions camera crew and reporter also spent two day at the offices of Folha de São Paulo newspaper to film three interviews for the Al Jazeera English network, following revelations by the newspaper that business executives supporting Bolsonaro spent large sums to send anti-PT (Workers’ Party) messages via WhatsApp. The interviewees included Marina Atoji, Executive Manager of Abraji (Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism) and Uirá Machado, the newspaper’s Assistant Managing Editor.