Join us for a screening of The Territory followed by an impact panel featuring environmental activist and film protagonist, Neidinha Bandeira, indigenous communicator and Impact Producer, José Neto, and The Territory filmmaker, Alex Pritz. In this event, moderated by UConn Journalism professor, Scott Wallace, panelists will discuss the collaborative making of the film with the Uru-eu-wau-wau people and their aims to shape a campaign to end land-grabbing and the destruction of the rainforest where they reside in Brazil. The discussion highlights how the “film itself was not the end,” but rather “would be the beginning of a much larger change for the community” (Pritz).

About the film:
Partially shot by the Uru-eu-wau-wau people and filmed over the course of several years, The Territory offers an authentic portrait of an Indigenous community’s daily life and struggles. With its breathtaking cinematography showcasing the dramatic landscape and richly textured sound design, the film brings audiences deep into the precious ecosystem they are fighting to protect.

Since the Uru-eu-wau-wau were first contacted by the Brazilian government in 1981, their territory has become an island of green rainforest surrounded by denuded farms and ranches — the results of four decades of unchecked deforestation. The community has faced environmentally destructive and often violent incursions into their sovereign territory by nonnatives seeking to exploit the land. Illegal logging and land clearing incursions have become more frequent and more brazen over the years.

Inside Uru-eu-wau-wau territory, there are fewer than 200 people, including elders and children, to defend nearly 7,000 square miles of rainforest. On the edges of the protected lands, a network of farmers organizes to stake their claims through official channels, while individual land-grabbers begin clear-cutting swaths of rainforest for themselves. With the community’s survival at stake, Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau and Neidinha Bandeira — a young Indigenous leader and his female mentor — must find new ways to protect the rainforest from encroaching invaders. But rather than rely on others to tell their story, the Uru-eu-wau-wau take control of the narrative and create their own news media team to bring the world the truth.

The Territory website: https://films.nationalgeographic.com/the-territory