Managing partner of , the producer of the film “” (“underdog”, in English) about former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), Karina Ferreira da Gama sought to raise R$8.59 million in resources for four events, including a March for Jesus festival.
Requests were made through the Instituto Saber Brasil, chaired by Karina. However, she managed to obtain resources for just one attraction, called “Rute – o Ballet”, which raised R$107,000 with the law that allows private incentives for cultural initiatives, subject to exemption from part of the Income Tax.
The Rouanet Law is a frequent target of attacks by Bolsonarists and was mentioned in the responses of (PL-RJ) after the audio was revealed in which the senator and presidential candidate asked the former banker to finance the film Dark Horse.
“What happened was a son, looking for PRIVATE sponsorship for a PRIVATE film about his own father’s story. Zero public money. Zero Rouanet law”, stated the senator, in a note, on the 13th, when the audio was released.
On Thursday (21), President Lula (PT) said that his government never pursued the “Daniel Vorcaro law” to finance artists, criticizing Flávio Bolsonaro.
Contacted by message and email, Karina Gama did not respond to the report. The Instituto Saber Brasil was also contacted, but did not return.
The institute chaired by Karina tried to raise funds through Rouanet for projects presented between 2015 and 2019.
The Bolsonaro government approved Karina’s biggest request, to raise R$5.9 million for shows linked to the March for Jesus in 15 states. Presented at the end of 2019, the plan was to attract 3 million people with performances by nationally known artists.
With the pandemic, the government extended the deadline for raising the funds until the end of 2022, but the institute did not raise the funds.
Karina would be general coordinator of the “travelling festival”. In the project, she stated that she had worked for 20 years in developing “corporate, social, cultural and economic strategic plans and projects for national and international companies and governments that promote the meeting and exchange of different audiences.”
The Instituto Saber Brasil only managed to raise funds for “Rute – o Ballet”, presented in 2019 and performed the following year. The government authorized funding of R$157 thousand, of which R$107 thousand was actually obtained.
The entity also received approval to raise funds for the “Turma do Smilinguido” theater and for singer Hadassah Perez’s tour – around R$ 1.2 million for each attraction, funds that were never obtained.
In addition to Go Up, Karina has other companies or entities in the cultural sector that benefit from public funds.
Saber Brasil signed a contract with the City of São Paulo, under management (), to receive R$108 million to provide Wi-Fi internet in low-income communities.
The institute also received R$2 million in amendments from federal deputy Mario Frias (PL-SP), who is the film’s producer and screenwriter.
Karina that the hiring by the city hall occurred on a regular basis, with no connection to the film “Dark Horse”, as well as the appeals of parliamentary amendments.
When justifying the transfers, in a post on social media, Frias also mentioned the incentive law: “I managed billions from the Rouanet Law at the head of the Special Secretariat for Culture and left the government with clean hands. Anyone who didn’t get rich with billions certainly wouldn’t get dirty for the R$2 million that the press is now trying to allocate.”
State deputies also directed R$700,000 to .
Vorcaro even paid R$61 million for the production of “Dark Horse”. According to Intercept Brasil, the total amount negotiated between the banker and the Bolsonaro family was R$134 million, but there is no evidence that all the money was transferred.
The Federal Police still suspect that the amount transferred by Vorcaro may have belonged to the former deputy (-SP) in the United States, where he has lived since February 2025.
Flávio and Eduardo have already denied this version. “It’s possible to prove it. What I asked today was for the private fund to make the contract available or for there to be accountability from the producer in Brazil”,
