The Territory: Documentary Chronicles Sadly Familiar Fight for Nature in the Amazon

By Kim Hughes

Rating: B

The stakes for preserving the Amazon rainforest against deforestation have never been higher or more perilous. It’s a point the National Geographic documentary The Territory makes abundantly, depressingly clear throughout its fleet but cinematically striking running time.

Arriving as it does in the shadow of the murders of journalist Dom Phillips and activist Bruno Pereira, both allegedly killed for advocating on behalf of Indigenous Amazonian people against nefarious encroachment on their land, the documentary takes on particular resonance.

The Territory also documents a murder that threatens to upend the activism of Indigenous peoples. At the start of the film, we learn that the Uru-eu-wau-wau were undiscovered by the Brazilian government until the 1980s. “From a population of thousands, fewer than 200 [Uru-eu-wau-wau] remain today.”

Among them is 18-year-old Bitaté, a wise-beyond-his-years kiddo who is elected by the elders to organize and fight back against those who want to claim their lush forest home for logging, cattle ranching, and other activities that, though profitable, leave behind ugliness and environmental devastation not easily undone.

Also on team Uru-eu-wau-wau is Ari, a galvanizing presence among his people, as well as environmental activist Neidinha who has spent years with the Uru-eu-wau-wau but also serves as their link to the outside world, alerting media to the ongoing struggles while lobbying for change.

Farming already surrounds the Uru-eu-wau-wau forest — images captured by drone show the insidious creep just outside the doorstep. Still, 49-year-old Sérgio forms as association of other farmers who hope to continue the ostensible march of so-called progress.

They have their reasons — namely poverty and few other avenues of support — and in their corner is then-incoming president Jair Bolsonaro who, we hear through stump speeches on TVs in the background, is literally campaigning on a platform of forced land redistribution, stripping Indigenous people of their birthright.

The Territory tells a too-familiar story being played out across the Amazon — and indeed, across the planet in environmentally precious but threatened spaces. The filmmakers, including producer Darren Aronofsky, give voice to Sérgio and his would-be homesteaders, or as the Uru-eu-wau-wau call them, “invaders.”

They too have been underserved by their government and are cast as people and not monsters even as they clear-cut and burn vibrant swatches of the rainforest to the ground as creatures howl in their midst.

It’s not explicitly stated, but the implication that this is what cheap fast-food hamburgers really cost is obvious. And with so much money at stake, people will do all sorts of horrible things, like terrorizing activist Neidinha by calling her and claiming one of her daughters has been kidnapped, sparking a frantic search.

There are scant reveals in The Territory. The story it tells — of environmental assault, mistreatment of Indigenous people, corrupt government and business — is woefully familiar. But the brutality of it all never ceases to amaze.

The Territory. Directed by Alex Pritz. With Neidinha Bandeira and Bitaté Uru Eu Wau Wau. In theatres in Toronto and Vancouver August 19, and in Montreal on August 26. Additional markets will be added to August 26.