Início » Awarded 24 times, the film made in RO, ‘O Território’ is a success at COP27

Awarded 24 times, the film made in RO, ‘O Território’ is a success at COP27

'The Territory' does the duty of defending the indigenous protagonism in combating the climate emergency, besides echoing around the globe the clamour for protection and respect for native peoples (Bruna Guerra/Reproduction)

November 17, 2022

13:11

Iury Lima – From Amazon Agency

VILHENA (RO) – The struggle for survival and for the conservation of the forest, regarded as home by the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau indigenous people of Rondônia, has been winning over the world with its 83 minutes on screen. A real story that makes us cry with emotion and revolt, denouncing illegal extraction of wood, land grabbing and even murder. The most recent sample of success was on panels of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which takes place in Egypt, until next Friday, 18th.

Internationally awarded 24 times, “The Territory” defends the indigenous protagonism in the fight against the climate emergency, besides echoing around the globe the clamour for protection and respect for native peoples.

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a film like this presented at a Climate Conference”, said the indigenous leader and president of Kanindé NGO, Neidinha Suruí, to AMAZON AGENCY . She is one of the people involved behind the scenes and could, along with her daughter, activist Txai Suruí – who was once again a powerful voice at the COP -, follow all the repercussion of the documentary at the UN event.

Txai presented the feature during her participation in the Brazil Climate Action Hub pavilion, where she cited the native populations of the country as an example in environmental diplomacy. “Brazil is very much targeted because of our Amazon, because of our forest, because of the importance that this place has for the world”, the activist further said.

‘The Territory’ was presented by Txai Suruí at the COP27 in Egypt (Neidinha SuruÍ/Reproduction)

International Relevance

Part of a list of 25 documentaries selected by the International Documentary Association (IDA) for the main category of the 38th edition of the entity’s awards, the IDA Documentary Awards, “O Território” had great chances of competing for an Oscar statuette in 2023, since the IDA works as a kind of thermometer for the most important film awards.

Directed by Alex Pritz, in partnership with indigenous people, the feature film was the only Brazilian work to be among the finalists. The result was published last Friday, 11.

With 97% of approval at Rotten Tomatoes, the film accumulates awards and enviable marks, such as having been the only one at the Sundance Film Festival 2022, recognised as the best by the public and jury.

Representativeness

Neidinha Suruí, mentor of young indigenous Bitaté Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, in the construction of the narrative presented by him, as a character and one of the voices that drive the whole plot of “The Territory”, says that the success lies in the way the film connects to those who watch and fight for the same causes, regardless of the continent or language spoken.

“And I think because of the importance of the film, the organisers brought it here [COP27] because it really moves people. It informs very clearly what is happening in the Amazon (…) what happens in the Amazon is very similar to what happens in several countries and, therefore, people end up identifying with the film”, evaluated the indigenous expert.

The indigenous, environmentalist and president of the Kanindé Association for Ethnoenvironmental Defense, Neidinha Suruí, in one of the scenes of ‘The Territory’ (O Território/Promotion)

“For me, this identification of people is very clear, and they always come to talk to us, saying: look, this is very similar, it speaks to us a lot because it is also like what happens in our country, in our land”, Neidinha said happily. “I think that the film manages to show that the pressure imposed by deforestation, by those who do not respect nature, against the ‘minority majorities’, is very similar everywhere”, she concluded.

The film

“The Territory”, co-produced between Brazil and the United States, besides being directed by Alex Pritz, had the participation of Brazilian indigenous and non-indigenous filmmakers.

The feature film brings together real images captured over three years, showing the daily lives of community residents, while they risk their own lives to assemble media and surveillance teams of the IT itself, in an attempt to reveal the truth and all the “luck” of environmental crimes committed within the reserve, which covers almost 2 million hectares.

The entire production resulted in an immersive look at the tireless struggle of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people against land-grabbers, ranchers, squatters, miners and the advance of deforestation in the middle of Legal Amazon.

Indigenous and non-Indigenous filmmakers unite to reveal the pressure suffered by the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous Land (O Território/Promotion)

Reflecting four decades of uncontrolled deforestation since the indigenous people were first contacted by the National Indian Foundation (Funai) in the early 1980s, the destruction of the forest has not only permeated the reserve but has also penetrated the unit and culminated in violent episodes against the resistance of the indigenous people such as the assassination of the leader and activist Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau who was killed in 2020 for denouncing illegal logging activities. The arrest of a suspect only occurred now, in 2022, two years later.

Today, the IT has less than 200 inhabitants. The area covers 12 municipalities of Rondonia and serves as an important ethno-environmental corridor of the Brazilian Amazon.