Neues Denken aus Brasilien (4) | Vom Überleben lokaler Kulturen (3): Langzeit-Dokumentation über die Xingu vom Amazonas

Film-Nr.: 381
Vorführungstermin: Freitag, 14. August 2009, 22.45 Uhr [VN38]
Themenschwerpunkt: Neues Denken aus Brasilien (4) | Archäologie - Anthropologie - Ethnologie (5) | Vom Überleben lokaler Kulturen (3) Brasilien

Englischer Titel: Xingu, The Endangered Land
Originaltitel: Xingu, A Terra Ameacada
Deutscher Titel: Xingu — das bedrohte Land
Herkunft: Brasilien 2008
Laufzeit: 105 Min.
Sprachfassung: Portugiesische Originalfassung (tw. Sprachen der brasilianischen Ureinwohner), englische Untertitel

Regie: Washington Novaes
Produzent: João Novaes, Roberto D'Ávila, Claudio Pereira
Schnitt: Joao Paulo Carvalho, Eduardo Pop, Aline Nobrega, Eduardo Pop (sound)
Kamera: Lula Araujo, Piva Barreto
Sprecher: Washington Novaes
Produktion: Sertao Filmes, Goiania, Goias (Brasilien)

URL Film-Homepage:
Premierenstatus: Welt-Festivalpremiere

Kurzinhalt: Die magische Kultur der Xingu-Ureinwohner im Amazonasgebiet mit enormen kulturellem und natürlichem Reichtum, betrachtet als Entwicklungsverlauf über die Zeitspanne von 22 Jahren.

Trailervideo:

Englische Synopsis: Two documentaries, 22 years apart. Over a two decade span, the cultural and natural wealth of the Xingu Indigenous Peoples Territory, a magic but endangered land in the heart of Brazil.



Englische Werkbeschreibung: Let yourself experience the mysterious universe of the Xingu Indigenous Peoples, in Brazil, guided by an inspired and dense narration, a poetic photography and a seducing edition. Back in 1984, a film crew directed by documentarist Washington Novaes visited the Xingu Indigenous Peoples Territory, in the Brazilian Amazon, revealing, through the series of documentaries “Xingu, The Magic Land”, the beauty of five indigenous nations: the Waurá, Kuikuro, Yawalapiti, Metuktire and Panará. Twenty-two years afterwards, the same crew went back to Xingu to show the transformations undergone by these cultures and the threats now facing them. The original series was broadcast in 1985 and was than acclaimed as one of the best documentaries ever shown on Brazilian TV, receiving awards abroad in Cuba and South Korea and being honored with a special room at the renowned Venice Biennale. For this new series, now reedited as a one hour and forty minutes feature presentation, beyond his original crew, Novaes employed two young indigenous film makers, Maricá Kuikuro and Kiampopri Panará, who today bridge the gap between their traditional cultures and our technologies. But what has happened to the peoples of Xingu in two decades of a closer relationship with the white world? The territory is today a forest island surrounded by pastures, roads, power dams and wide deforested areas for soybean crops. The inhabitants of the territory withstand the impacts of environmental degradation around it and the closeness of the surrounding society. The villages have been overtaken by satellite dishes, solar energy cells, oil engines and electronic paraphernalia. The shamans are now very few, for the youth isn’t willing to face this tough apprenticeship path, long and full of sacrifices. They want to watch TV, to wear clothes, sneakers, sunglasses, to dance white rhythms and – a supreme ambition – to ride a potent motorcycle through the village. “The Indian world is very different from ours”, remembers Novaes. It is ruled by the spirits of water, fire, earth and the animals. Everything there is rooted in a sacred dimension”. He reminds us that, in this territory, the white technology and scientific resources add to the risk of a definite loss of identity with the intense exposition of the youth to our culture. “The old leaders say the youth carries a huge illusion regarding the white world. They think everything here to be pretty and easy. They have no idea how hard it is to survive in this world. It is a very tough moment, with a very strong internal tension. It is hard to foresee the outcomings though”. Fortunately nevertheless, as Washington puts it, “it is still a moment of coexistence between the two cultures, the native one and the white one”. Thanks to that, whoever watches “Xingu, the Endangered Land” will still be able to feel mesmerized by the touching images of cultural expressions kept alive by the indigenous nations once again filmed. The rituals, feasts, the initiation of teenagers on adult life through the ancient ritual of “thrashing wasps” among the Panarás and a beautiful reenacting by the Metuktire of their first encounter with the white man. “Meeting the Indian is a dive in another time, a wide open space of sky and earth, water and fire. A rich and colorful space, peopled by animals, vegetables, minerals and spirits”, admonishes Novaes.



GLOBIANS DOC FEST BERLIN
August 12 - 17, 2009
Kino Toni, Antonplatz