When Luiz Inácio da Silva, a former metalworker known as 'Lula,' won the Brazilian presidency in 2002 on a campaign promising agrarian reform and an end to hunger, popular hopes for social change galvanized the nation. LULA'S BRAZIL, filmed two years into his administration, examines the achievements as well as the failures of his presidency compared to his campaign promises, revealing how his ambitious plans have been frustrated by a clash with national and international economic interests.

The documentary sketches Lula's personal story -- a child of poor, illiterate farmers who in the Seventies became a charismatic union organizer and in the Eighties founded what would become Brazil's largest left-wing political party -- and blends this biography with an intimate look at living conditions for Brazil's impoverished majority. We accompany social workers from the government's "Zero Hunger" program as they visit the homes of the rural poor, and watch the police patrol the drug- and crime-infested hilltop favelas.

LULA'S BRAZIL also features commentary by government officials, NGO leaders, political advisors, factory workers, the unemployed, wealthy landowners, small farmers, peasant members of the Landless Workers Movement, and includes highlights of Lula's speeches both to the activist-oriented World Social Forum and the international economic elite's World Economic Forum.

These multiple perspectives make clear the nature of Lula's political dilemma-although he won 60% of the popular vote, he lacks a majority in Congress and must contend with the powerful landowners' lobby. He must negotiate between promises of reform to his popular constituency and economic reassurances to the country's powerbrokers. Lula won an election in Brazil, but not a revolution, and as president he is sitting on top of a powder keg.

"Excellent... the film expresses the mature, critical, and balanced judgment that characterizes the mainstream of the Brazilian left."—John D. French, The Americas

"Moving! Powerful! Paints an in-depth picture of the first two years of Lula's term. A film that is equally interesting when read between the lines, and that criticizes without losing hope."—Agência Estado (Brazil)