RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Last year’s World Cup in Brazil may have been the “cup of cups” for soccer fans, but for Brazilian taxpayers, who forked out some $11.5 billion for the month-long tournament, its legacy has proven negative, according to two new films.
“Brazil vs. Brazil” and “The March of the White Elephants” show the dark underbelly of the mega-event, which saw thousands of poor people removed from their homes and billions poured into state-of-the-art stadiums, some of which are now being used as parking lots or wedding venues. The critical documentaries, which screened at the Rio Film Festival that closes Wednesday, come as Brazil enters the final stretch before next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and amid an unfurling corruption crisis at World Cup organizer FIFA.
“I think it was terrible for Brazilians,” said Laura Colucci, a Sao Paulo native who co-produced “White Elephants” along with her South African husband, Neil Brandt.
“They felt betrayed, they felt embarrassed, they felt defeated,” said Colucci, adding that the harm wrought by the tournament has gone well beyond Brazil’s 7-1 pummeling by Germany in the semi-finals.
In the year leading up to the 2014 tournament, many Brazilians were angered by the spiraling costs of preparations and the chronically woeful state of the country’s public schools and hospitals. Thousands took to the streets in the biggest protests in a generation. Once the ball started rolling, however, most here left politics aside, embracing Brazil’s five-time champion national team and the chance to host soccer’s biggest event.