Movie charts Brazilian president Lula's rise

BRASILIA: Audiences wept at the first screening of a movie charting the rise of Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from a childhood of poverty to a union leader on the verge of glittering political career.

Lula, Son of Brazil is scheduled to release in January 2010, just before he stands down, but an audience that included political luminaries got a special preview at Brasilia's film festival last week.

The movie includes powerful images of poverty in the arid northeastern region where Lula was born in 1947, and recounts the harsh conditions in which his family lived.