A Última Floresta

Since Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019, gold prospectors have again massively penetrated the living environment of the Yanomami in the Brazilian-Venezuelan border region. Not only do the intruders poison the water with mercury, they also bring deadly diseases – most recently COVID-19 – into these largely isolated indigenous communities. With their promises of a modern world, the prospectors are also increasingly tempting young people to abandon their traditional lives in the rainforest.
Having documented the life of the Paiter Suruí in Ex Pajé, filmmaker and anthropologist Luiz Bolognesi now approaches another Indigenous community in the rainforests of the Amazon. In his new work, he alternates traditionally observational footage with staged sequences developed in collaboration with shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, one of the internationally best-known spokespeople for the Yanomami. Unfolding in impressive images, multi-layered soundscapes and subtly edited musical sections, these sequences describe the Yanomami’s creation myths, their relationship to nature and their ongoing struggle to preserve their natural environment.