“The Amazon is not just the heart of Brazil, but of the whole world.” These are the words of Bitate, a young Uru-eu-wau-wau leader, who is fighting, possibly to the death, to save his community and the rain forest. Though promised constitutional protection, the Uru-eu-wau-wau’s homeland is under dire threat from farmers and land-grabbers.
The Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people have long been thriving in Brazil’s Amazonian rain forest, despite the forest being slowly and steadily destroyed. Now, they number less than 200, and President Jair Bolsonaro, disregarding the law, has encouraged homesteaders to take their land. Taking us straight into the center of this battle, filmmaker Alex Pritz masterfully tracks multiple points of view: we see the Uru-eu-wau-wau as they fight to save themselves and the rain forest, as well as local farmers trying to form a settlement in the area and a group of homesteaders determined to clear-cut the forest. “Both sumptuous and enraging” –Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com. Winner, Sundance Audience Award, World Cinema Documentary.
Director Biography
Alex Pritz is a director and cinematographer whose work focuses on humanity’s relationship with the natural world. His process relies on a participatory filmmaking model, in which everyone is encouraged to pick up a camera. The Territory (2022) is his debut feature.
Sponsors
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