Brazil in the turbulent months just before and after the election of the populist president Jair Bolsonaro: violence seems closer to the surface of society than ever before. Against this backdrop, the struggle depicted in Alex Pritz’s compelling and essential documentary – that of the Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people against the settlers who are attempting to occupy and farm their land – gains an added urgency.
Lives, literally, are at stake. More than that, as young tribal leader Bitaté points out, the very future of the planet is affected by the deforestation of the Amazon. The film follows the tech-savvy Bitaté, who uses drones and social media to shore up support for the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau. Fighting alongside him is activist Neidinha, whose campaign to protect the forest and its people places her own family in danger. The picture also gives a voice to Martins, a browbeaten farmer who believes, like so many in Brazil, in his right to claim a piece of land to support his family. A must watch.
