The Territory

a film from National Geographic

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one can hear, has it fallen? What about if an Indigenous man gets brutally murdered, and no one witnesses it; does his land still belong to him?

The Territory is a beautifully made film that unearths many ugly truths for those who don’t know much about the state of the Amazon, featuring the push-and-pull between Indigenous tribes trying to protect their territory, and the frontier farmers trying to settle land they feel should be belong to Brazil. The Amazon is known as the lungs of this Earth—loosing the Amazon rain forest is a tipping point for the global climate, with anywhere from 20 to 40% more losses of the rainforest leading to a savanna in areas of South America and contributing towards an increase in global temperature. This would encompass the loss of potentially thousands, if not millions, of as yet uncatalogued fauna and flora; let alone the losses that come for local peoples and the increased global temperatures. But the Amazon, nor these Indigenous tribes, does not live in a vacuum—complicating what could just be an easy conservation message are the farmers trying to make a life for themselves and improve their country. These farmers and their mindsets are shown in great detail in this film, which unflinchingly portrays the battlefield that the Amazon becomes. Judgement is left mainly for those who do not step in, who are complacent despite their inherent power: the government, led by Bolsonaro (under whom deforestation has increased significantly), the office for Indian rights, the wealthy landowners and big agri-business using farmers as pawns.

The real shining star of the film was Bitate, who’s rights to the territory are not only demonstrated politically as he ascends to lead his tribe, but by the ease in which the Amazon is clearly his home. The inherent respect he and the Ure-eu-wau-wau hold for nature, the fluency with which they meld into their surroundings and interact with the animals around them, lends a Snow White quality to the film, a magic. Because what is nature, if not magic—sometimes terrible and rousing and tragic, other times healing and calming; at all times something that the Ure-eu-wau-wau demonstrate a superior, more intimate relationship with time and time again in the film. Bitate’s leadership is respectful, fair, well-reasoned, practical—he demonstrates a better sense of deescalation that many Western political leaders, whilst still pushing back on imperialist messages and reclaiming power for himself and his people. I could not help but leave the film full of admiration for him and hopeful for the future, if this is what youth activism is. Interestingly, his use of technology really stood out to me: for once seeing technology being used for good after being inundated with stories about algorithms, big data, and biased software engineers being so much a part of why climate crisis has us in such a stolid grip. The key difference being, it seems, the local affected people have the agency to use this technology themselves, rather than a solution being dreamed up and implemented without consultation by someone completely removed from the problem.

What, if anything, can we do? What’s the UK, the US, the German connection to the Amazon? Consider the following: cattle ranching is the number one cause of deforestation in the Amazon. You may say you just buy 100% British or American or local-to-you beef. However, that label doesn’t mean that was a born, bred, and raised in Britain cow. EU labelling (to which the UK still currently adheres to) requires that the animal’s birth country, as well as the country it was raised and slaughtered in, be shown; and indeed, in grocery stores you can usually find assurance in the UK with the Red Tractor label and by checking all three of these countries are not from the Amazon. However, what about eating out—do you know where your food comes from then? As recently as March this year, Reporter Brasil brought to light a report that claimed beef from ranches on illegally claimed land was shuffled between farms, to hide its true origin, then shipped to slaughterhouses owned by companies that supply McDonalds. Brazil’s biggest beef exporters claim to set out high standards for their supply chain, but a Bloomberg Green investigation has shown that a cow’s journey from calf to fattening farm can be entirely unmonitored, and thus—unregulated.

Other reasons for deforestation include: crop production (palm oil, soya, biofuels), mining for precious minerals, and timber logging—and once again, as a consumer you can reduce demand (reduce and reuse any Brazilian wood you bought for that trendy Instagram renovation, for example; seek out palm-oil free cosmetics, processed foods, and cleaning supplies; eke out the very last use of your mobile phone or tablet until it is unusable and recycle it), and on a larger scale, campaign your local political representatives so that supply chains become accounted for, so that they become monitored, so that responsibility and accountability can take the forefront in case it is found that the supply chain does showcase an illegal connection to the Amazon.

Besides reducing consumption, and advocating for proper supply chain monitoring and accountability, you can also make sure you are listening to those on the ground who are impacted by this daily and are leading the fight back against this: neidinha_surui , bitate_uru_eu_juma , and txaisurui are three great voices from the film itself. neidinha_surui founded the non-profit Kandide Ethno-Environmental Defense Association, which you can choose to support to give on-the-ground assistance. If you want to read more about the characters in the film, and the making of the film, you can find more information here. A Guardian article has only just recently highlighted the work of Indigenous voices, calling for companies to stop the resource looting in the Amazon committed by corporations, which you can read about here. And finally—go watch this film! You can find it at Picturehouse cinemas and other independent cinemas such as Studio74—it’s a beautifully made film that deserves to be heard.

Back to regularly scheduled book reviews soon!