The Territory

In Alex Pritz’s documentary, produced by Darren Aronofsky, the Amazon’s indigenous people collaborate in the story of their survival.

Until now, Alex Pritz has been best known for his work as a photographer in which capacity he made such notable documentaries as When Lambs Become Lions (2018) and The First Wave (2021). In this new award-winning work, The Territory, he again has a credit for photography, but this time he shares that with Tangae, a member of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau tribe living in the Amazon rainforest. That fact indicates just how closely these people whose plight is central to the film were involved in its making, that being something that helps to give the piece its special character. At the same time The Territory is important in terms of Pritz’s own career since it marks the first time that he has taken on a full-length feature film as director.

It is safe to predict that this film will have a strong impact for, as it proceeds, one realises that at its heart there is not just one major issue but two. Many viewers may well be as ignorant as I was of these indigenous people who live in the state of Rondônia but The Territory engages one immediately. Filmed on location, it not only puts us directly into their world but makes clear the extent to which due to the encouragement of Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, invaders are encroaching more and more into their forest home and cutting down trees as part of an intensive development that even includes the creation of a city there.  This contact (the very word ‘contact’ being an ironic euphemism) has led to what had been a protected area coming under siege. That has caused suffering to the land itself through deforestation and inevitably to the people themselves through the fall in their numbers due to these conditions. That factor is increasing so significantly that it could eventually lead to the tribe facing extinction.

Shot over three years, The Territory shows us the native community and features in particular 18-year-old Bitaté who, despite his youth, is elected to lead the Jupaú Association which came into existence to defend the rights of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau. That the film’s sympathies lie entirely with them is self-evident, but the film nevertheless also contains much footage recording the attitude of those who would claim to have arrived there to liberate the land. They too have an association, the Association of Rio Bonito, but that is a collective set up to support the invaders including land-grabbers who will fight for whatever ground that is left.

What we witness here is a tragedy for these indigenous people, but it is no less of a tragedy for the world. On the personal level what has been happening in recent years is appalling for, on top of everything else, those living there are finding themselves subjected to violence. One person we meet ends up being murdered and the attitude of the authorities is such that there is no help from the police. Another significant figure seen here, Neidinha Bandeira, an environmental activist who speaks up for the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, suffers threats not just to herself but also to her family. Her concern underlines the other major issue inherent in the situation: the fact that what is happening here devastates the trees and the animals of the forest thus damaging the ecosystem and turning what could become a genocide into something that also undermines the chance of the rainforest surviving sufficiently to play a key role in saving the environment.

What we see in The Territory is, indeed, properly disturbing. As director Pritz faces up to the challenge of his first feature and does well even if I did sometimes sense that in seeking to convey the native way of life to the audience some of the shots felt set up. It's also the case that what we see of the contrasted associations with their conflicting viewpoints can on occasion become a mite confusing as we move between them. But the basic message of the film could not be clearer. As he takes on his new role, Bitaté grows into a leader and his youth is perhaps a spur to his embracing the idea that utilising cameras to inform the wider world of what is happening justifies describing the camera as a weapon. Yet we know that the fight is a very tough one: it’s confirmed by a statement at the film’s close that in the year 2021 the number of invasions doubled.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  Neidinha Bandeira, Bitaté Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau.

Dir Alex Pritz, Pro Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Lizzie Gillett, Will N. Miller, Alex Pritz and Gabriel Uchida, Ph Alex Pritz and Tangae Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Art Dir  Hodja Diallo Berlev, Ed Carlos Rojas Felice, Music Katya Mihailova, Animation Dir William Reynish.

Documist/Passion Pictures/Protozoa Pictures/Real Lava/Time Studios/National Geographic Documentary Films-Dogwoof Pictures.
84 mins. Brazil/Denmark/USA. 2022. US Rel: 19 August 2022. UK Rel: 2 September 2022. Cert. PG.