With the presence of indigenous people, documentary about the people’s struggle

The Territory, a documentary directed by the American Alex Pritz that portrays the struggle of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people in defense of their territory in Rondônia, won the International Emmy on Sunday night (7). The film won in the category of exceptional merit in a documentary of what is the biggest award on North American television.

Ivaneide Bandeira Cardozo, known as Neidinha, is one of the protagonists of the feature film and was present, along with Bitaté Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, Txai Suruí and Gabriel Uchida at the awards ceremony at the Peacock Theater, in Los Angeles, USA.

“I’m very emotional because I tried not to think about whether we were going to win or not, because for me it was already very important to have been nominated. And when they announced that we won, my heart exploded”, she said, with the statuette in her hands .

“I’m very happy because this film represents a lot for indigenous peoples, it represents a lot for our fight, ours for territory. This award belongs to you, indigenous peoples. You who are in the fight. The award is ours”, declared Neidinha. “Our voice is being heard”, summarized Txai Suruí.

The documentary

“By following the white land invaders and their strategies of advancement into indigenous territory, in the same amount of time as it follows the indigenous people and their strategies of inspection and resistance, The Territory ended up becoming one of the most relevant documents of the universal tragedy of our time”, considered writer and journalist Jotabê Medeiros.

Recorded at the moment of Bolsonaro’s electoral rise before he won the 2018 election and throughout the following years, the film follows the clash, tactics and intentions of indigenous people and land grabbers in the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau territory, in Rondônia.

“I don’t think they want the land. They just want to kill us”, says Bitaté Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in one of the scenes. The documentary follows the 21-year-old young man’s mission to become one of the territory’s guardian leaders, with the support of activist and indigenous activist Neidinha Cardozo.

The cost, often with bloodshed, of defending the territory against invasions by land grabbers, becomes clear with the murder of Ari Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau. The 33-year-old indigenous man, who participated in monitoring the territory against illegal logging, was killed on April 17, 2020, in circumstances that have not yet been fully elucidated.

Watch the trailer for The Territory:

Editing: Nicolau Soares