The day that lasted 21 years in 2013: reflections on memory and the political history of the present

Abstract

The Day That Lasted 21 Years is a feature-length documentary. It was released in 2013, at a very specific political juncture. In this text, we attempt to reflect on that period, which seems to mark a shift in the collective memory regarding the Military Dictatorship: those who had triumphed through the use of arms once again began to contest the historical interpretations of the Dictatorship era. The film’s directors, Camilo Tavares and his father Flávio Tavares, provide our primary sources through their interventions and interviews, drawing on memories and representations that allow us to reflect on the political context of the period in which the film was released from the perspectives of Political History and Contemporary History. Our working hypothesis is that the absence of justice regarding human rights violations during the 1964–1985 dictatorship period has placed the Brazilian left before a dilemma, in which there is a need for continuous work of remembrance that is unable to reach the level of a just memory. The lack of punishment for human rights violators is also indicative of the absence of political power to effectively reverse the social damage caused by the conservative modernization implemented by the military governments.