“The American press needs to make up for lost time without confronting the authoritarian advance”, says Ronan Farrow, journalist and one of the authors of the reports that revealed the sexual crimes of producer Harvey Weinstein. The coverage earned the New York Times and The New Yorker a Pulitzer Prize in 2018.
The journalist, son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, is the executive producer of the documentary “Endangered”, which opens in the US on Tuesday (28) and in Brazil on July 5. The film is directed by Americans Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing, nominated for an Oscar for “Jesus Camp” (2006).
Farrow and Grady talked about the film, which follows the routine of four journalists from democratic countries facing risks in covering politics, racial conflicts and human rights. One of the characters is PatrÃcia Campos Mello, a reporter for Sheet and target of attacks by the Bolsonaro family.
“We are in a situation where there are not two sides, and we have to resist the theatrical seduction of neutral journalism. The press was reticent with Trump at first, for fear of appearing partisan,” says Farrow.
How did the idea of ​​filming “Endangered” take shape?
Rachel Grady Ronan was already involved with HBO to produce documentaries and was looking for projects. He contacted us and we started looking together. We talked a lot until we arrived at the concept that brings together truth, freedom of expression and physical danger.
The documentary follows a black American photojournalist, a British reporter covering Donald Trump until the Capitol invasion, a Brazilian journalist covering disinformation in the Bolsonaro government and the Mexican photojournalist, the one most at risk in women’s protests — she is even arrested and get caught by the police. Are journalists from younger democracies more alert to state repression?
ID I agree 100%. Americans, until recently, thought that freedom of the press was a guaranteed right. As Patricia herself says in the film, Brazilians remember periods of repression.
Ronan farrow For all of us in this profession, in a country where respect for the law is expected, persecution is often limited to legal intimidation or espionage, not like Russia or Pakistan. But anyone working to reveal the truth knows that the situation could deteriorate. I had similar experiences to Patricia and I felt stronger knowing her story. [Farrow foi seguido por ex-espiões israelenses contratados por Harvey Weinstein e sofreu campanhas de difamação online.]
In the process of selecting the characters, did you notice how autocrats sexualize attacks on women journalists, who work under this extra risk?
RF We know there is systemic misogyny. Where you work and how close you get to sources of intimidation seems to have this constant, sexism is everywhere.
During production, was the possible risk of appearing in the film a factor of concern?
ID In any documentary, we always consider the impact on the characters we shoot. Sometimes the person does not realize, at the center of the action, the level of risk. In the case of “Endangered,” we were dealing with very smart people. Everyone had their eyes wide open and knew of the potential repercussions. Patricia, for example, doesn’t want attention. She is shy and knows that she can work better if no one recognizes her. But she is also dedicated to her coverage themes.
Newsrooms in the US have created “democracy editorials” to cover politics this year. Is it a good initiative?
RF This movement, which I do not know in detail, is correct. We are facing a situation where there are not two sides, and we all have to resist this theatrical seduction of neutral journalism. My job at the New Yorker entails not viewing the world with progressive bias, exposing facts anywhere on the political spectrum. But fascist and radical tendencies need to be exposed. Donald Trump started out as a product of New York media and a TV network. The American press was reticent at first, afraid of appearing partisan. She needs to make up for lost time.
You were a State Department official and wrote about the recent dismantling of American diplomacy for the benefit of the military establishment – ​​”shoot first, ask questions later.” Has this diplomatic absence, accelerated under Trump, facilitated autocratic advancement in US allied countries and contributed to eroding press freedom around the world? Is the Biden administration trying to fix this?
RF I want to be careful not to conflagrate different phenomena, since American foreign policy is carried out with alternating parties in power. The expansion of the military industrial complex is a fact. Today the government is making an effort — not always successful — to reverse this. The response to the militarization of democracies, anti-press rhetoric and the emergence of authoritarians is more quality journalism.
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Ronan Farrow
The New York-born journalist has published articles in newspapers and magazines such as the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of reports that revealed the sex crimes of producer Harvey Weinstein. He is the son of actress Mia Farrow and filmmaker Woody Allen.
Rachel Grady
American documentary filmmaker, she is co-director of productions such as “Jesus Camp” (2006), nominated for an Oscar in 2007 in the Best Documentary category, “Detropia” (2012), winner of an Emmy in 2014 in the News and Documentary category and “The Boys of Baraka” (2005).
