The battle for the Amazon

A life or death battle in the Amazon

As Brazil faces a presidential run-off to prevent deforester-in-chief Jair Bolsonaro’s re-election, The Territory chronicles an Indigenous community’s struggle to defend their land.

Alex Pritz’s compelling feature documentary The Territory provides an immersive on-the-ground look at the tireless fight of the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers in the Brazilian Amazon.

The film takes audiences deep into the Uru-eu-wau-wau community and provides unprecedented access to the farmers and settlers illegally burning and clearing the protected Indigenous land. Partially shot by the Uru-eu-wau-wau people, the film relies on vérité footage captured over three years as the community risks their lives to set up their own news media team in the hopes of exposing the truth.

The film was released in cinemas in September and is available for local screenings. For details of how to apply to host a screening, including publicity materials and a discussion guide, see: theterritoryimpact.org.

Photos: Alex Pritz/Amazon Land Documentary

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1. A fire lit by local farmers burns in the Amazon rainforest during the summer of 2019. 2. Neidinha Bandeira, an environmental activist, bathes in a river. 3. A cattle feed lot in southern Rondônia, where beef production accounts for the majority of deforestation. This area was once all rainforest. 4. An invader rides his motorcycle through the rainforest fire blaze. 5. Bitaté Uru-euwau-wau (right) and members of the Jupaú Surveillance team patrol the river by boat.