The makers of National Geographic’s The Territory are celebrating their win at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, one of the most prestigious awards in nonfiction.
The prize, voted on by a special jury, was shared by director-producer Alex Pritz, producers Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida, and Lizzie Gillett, and executive producer Txai Suruí. Their film centers on the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people, who face constant assault as they try to protect their territory within Brazil’s Amazon rainforest from invasion by outsiders. As Deadline previously wrote about the film, those invaders are “engaged in burning down great swaths of the rainforest for mining, logging, clearing land for cattle and homesteading.”
The film also underscores what’s at stake with each acre of Brazilian rainforest that goes up in smoke — it is the ecological health of the Earth that hangs in the balance.
The prize, voted on by a special jury, was shared by director-producer Alex Pritz, producers Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida, and Lizzie Gillett, and executive producer Txai Suruí. Their film centers on the Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people, who face constant assault as they try to protect their territory within Brazil’s Amazon rainforest from invasion by outsiders. As Deadline previously wrote about the film, those invaders are “engaged in burning down great swaths of the rainforest for mining, logging, clearing land for cattle and homesteading.”
The film also underscores what’s at stake with each acre of Brazilian rainforest that goes up in smoke — it is the ecological health of the Earth that hangs in the balance.
- 1/8/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Execs discuss social outreach strategy at CineLink Industry Days panel in Sarajevo.
How do cash-strapped indie documentary producers pay for social outreach and impact campaigns? That was one of the questions asked at Sarajevo’s CineLink Industry Days panel, “Shaping Change: Unleashing the Transformative Power of Impact Producing and Outreach in Documentary Filmmaking” this week.
The talk was held shortly after Sarajevo launched a new impact award of its own – its CineLink Impact Award presented by Think-Film Impact Production. The award comes with €20,000 of in-kind support to develop a comprehensive impact campaign for a project in the post-production phase participating...
How do cash-strapped indie documentary producers pay for social outreach and impact campaigns? That was one of the questions asked at Sarajevo’s CineLink Industry Days panel, “Shaping Change: Unleashing the Transformative Power of Impact Producing and Outreach in Documentary Filmmaking” this week.
The talk was held shortly after Sarajevo launched a new impact award of its own – its CineLink Impact Award presented by Think-Film Impact Production. The award comes with €20,000 of in-kind support to develop a comprehensive impact campaign for a project in the post-production phase participating...
- 8/14/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
In the National Geographic documentary The Territory, illegal land grabbers in a section of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest burn down thousands of acres to clear space for cattle farming, buzzsaw giant trees left and right and build settlements in violation of Brazilian law. The destruction of their forest home has been devastating for the Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, who are supposed to be protected from such incursions upon their territory.
“From the 1970s onward, what my father says is that a lot of white people came, and they were splitting up, dividing up the land,” said Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wau during an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees event. The Indigenous cinematographer earned an Emmy nomination for his work on The Territory, one of three nominations for the film. “There were people invading that were not Indigenous people — the illegal miners, the cattle ranchers. And this was happening all around where we lived.
“From the 1970s onward, what my father says is that a lot of white people came, and they were splitting up, dividing up the land,” said Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wau during an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees event. The Indigenous cinematographer earned an Emmy nomination for his work on The Territory, one of three nominations for the film. “There were people invading that were not Indigenous people — the illegal miners, the cattle ranchers. And this was happening all around where we lived.
- 8/12/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The nature doc is a staple of nonfiction storytelling in film, and the genre has produced a number of Oscar-winning documentary features — as recently as 2021’s winner My Octopus Teacher. This year, three nature docs made it to the shortlist ahead of the Academy Award nominations announcement on Jan. 24, and all aim to make it in the final five films that will earn a nom for doc feature.
HBO’s All That Breathes is set in New Delhi, India, with director Shaunak Sen’s film focusing on two brothers — Nadeem and Saud — who have devoted their lives to protecting the black kite, a bird of prey essential to their native ecosystem. Known as the “kite brothers,” the film’s subjects show the tough work of environmental activism through their ingenious efforts to create an avian hospital. All That Breathes premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the grand...
HBO’s All That Breathes is set in New Delhi, India, with director Shaunak Sen’s film focusing on two brothers — Nadeem and Saud — who have devoted their lives to protecting the black kite, a bird of prey essential to their native ecosystem. Known as the “kite brothers,” the film’s subjects show the tough work of environmental activism through their ingenious efforts to create an avian hospital. All That Breathes premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the grand...
- 1/17/2023
- by Tyler Coates
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For young Bitaté Uru Eu Wau Wau, the distant chattering of a buzzsaw sends an ominous signal. It’s the sound of his people’s land in the Brazilian rainforest being chewed up by illegal invaders.
The Oscar-shortlisted documentary The Territory, directed by Alex Pritz, shows how Bitaté and members of his Indigenous tribe, the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, are attempting to fend off loggers, miners and squatters devouring huge tracts of the Amazon. Among their only means of defense is media attention to their plight. Without it, their territory will continue to disappear.
Bitaté spoke with us through an interpreter from an Uru village in Brazil’s state of Rondônia.
Deadline: What has it been like for you to be the protagonist of an Oscar-contending documentary that’s been seen around the world?
BITATÉ Uru Wau Wau: I feel honored. It brings to the forefront the fight of my people. It displays...
The Oscar-shortlisted documentary The Territory, directed by Alex Pritz, shows how Bitaté and members of his Indigenous tribe, the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, are attempting to fend off loggers, miners and squatters devouring huge tracts of the Amazon. Among their only means of defense is media attention to their plight. Without it, their territory will continue to disappear.
Bitaté spoke with us through an interpreter from an Uru village in Brazil’s state of Rondônia.
Deadline: What has it been like for you to be the protagonist of an Oscar-contending documentary that’s been seen around the world?
BITATÉ Uru Wau Wau: I feel honored. It brings to the forefront the fight of my people. It displays...
- 1/14/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The filmmakers behind three of the documentaries shortlisted for this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary Feature sat down with Gold Derby recently and discussed several subjects including their reactions to making the shortlist, the documentaries that influenced them and how they determine what subject they’ll devote the time and effort to chronicle. This was all part of Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts panel on Film Documentaries that included Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Matthew Heineman (“Retrograde”) and Alex Pritz (“The Territory”).
You can watch the film documentary group panel above with the people behind these three projects. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to each exclusive video interview.
On the subject of being shortlisted at the Oscars, Dosa had a bit more to celebrate than the other panelists. That’s because the morning that the interview was recorded, she found out that not...
You can watch the film documentary group panel above with the people behind these three projects. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to each exclusive video interview.
On the subject of being shortlisted at the Oscars, Dosa had a bit more to celebrate than the other panelists. That’s because the morning that the interview was recorded, she found out that not...
- 1/12/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
There has been a huge tone shift for indigenous communities across Brazil since Alex Pritz completed filming his documentary, “The Territory.” This has come specifically from former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defeating the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in last October’s election. “While it’s not an overtly political film, you see the effects of Bolsonaro’s policies and his political speech has on these people and how that is converted into violence really quickly,” Pritz tells Gold Derby during our recent Meet the Experts: Film Documentary panel (watch the exclusive video interview above).
Lula has made many promises to the indigenous communities of Brazil and he’s already started a new Ministry of Indigenous Affairs along with having a record number of indigenous women in the new Congress. “We’re really looking to the future and looking for ways that we can support the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in building something better for the next generation.
Lula has made many promises to the indigenous communities of Brazil and he’s already started a new Ministry of Indigenous Affairs along with having a record number of indigenous women in the new Congress. “We’re really looking to the future and looking for ways that we can support the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in building something better for the next generation.
- 1/12/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
Thanks to the pandemic, “The Territory” has become the documentary poster child for how to make a truly collaborative nonfiction film.
When Alex Pritz began filming his Sundance hit in 2018, he wanted to provide an immersive look at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by Brazilian farmers and illegal settlers. He had no idea that some of the most memorable moments of his film would be documented by a member of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community.
In the first two years of production Pritz witnessed young members of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community acquire their own equipment, including drones and photography cameras to document illegal happenings on their land. While the director was pleasantly surprised by their interest in camera equipment, he did not invite them to help create the visual aesthetic of “The Territory.”
But when territorial incursions brought the added threat of a lethal virus due to Covid,...
When Alex Pritz began filming his Sundance hit in 2018, he wanted to provide an immersive look at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by Brazilian farmers and illegal settlers. He had no idea that some of the most memorable moments of his film would be documented by a member of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community.
In the first two years of production Pritz witnessed young members of the Uru-eu-wau-wau community acquire their own equipment, including drones and photography cameras to document illegal happenings on their land. While the director was pleasantly surprised by their interest in camera equipment, he did not invite them to help create the visual aesthetic of “The Territory.”
But when territorial incursions brought the added threat of a lethal virus due to Covid,...
- 12/12/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
This week’s New to Streaming column is sponsored by Alex Pritz’s The Territory, now streaming on Disney+, courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
The Territory (Alex Pritz)
There are about 180 Uru-eu-wau-wau people left in the Brazilian Amazon. This community lives off the land, protecting the Amazon from deforestation, constant threats of violence, and an expanding base of anti-Indigenous sentiment, streaming from the far-right emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro. Over three years, filmmaker Alex Pritz spent time with these native Brazilians for The Territory, a collaborative, vérité documentary that’s both engaging and terrifying. Pritz even hands over the camera to the Uru-eu-wau-wau at one point, as the group closes their borders and prepares for an ongoing fight to preserve their land.
This week’s New to Streaming column is sponsored by Alex Pritz’s The Territory, now streaming on Disney+, courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
The Territory (Alex Pritz)
There are about 180 Uru-eu-wau-wau people left in the Brazilian Amazon. This community lives off the land, protecting the Amazon from deforestation, constant threats of violence, and an expanding base of anti-Indigenous sentiment, streaming from the far-right emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro. Over three years, filmmaker Alex Pritz spent time with these native Brazilians for The Territory, a collaborative, vérité documentary that’s both engaging and terrifying. Pritz even hands over the camera to the Uru-eu-wau-wau at one point, as the group closes their borders and prepares for an ongoing fight to preserve their land.
- 12/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Engines roar, blades are sharpened, recoil starters sputter and whine. The opening of Alex Pritz’s Sundance-winning documentary “The Territory” prepares the audience for a real “Chainsaw Massacre,” one that plays out in the Amazon rainforest. But this film is far more terrifying, and galvanizing, than Tobe Hooper’s ‘70s slasher classic.
The violence is no less upsetting, and at times, watching the film feels like bearing witness to a genocide unfolding in real time. The murders — of old-growth trees on protected indigenous land in Brazil — are sickening to watch; the suspense with which the film unfolds is riveting. Fortunately, there’s also an inspiring hero at the center of the story, who takes up a unique weapon in order to fight the destruction of his people.
The title of the documentary refers to an area of land in the center of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, occupied by the Uru-eu-wau-wau,...
The violence is no less upsetting, and at times, watching the film feels like bearing witness to a genocide unfolding in real time. The murders — of old-growth trees on protected indigenous land in Brazil — are sickening to watch; the suspense with which the film unfolds is riveting. Fortunately, there’s also an inspiring hero at the center of the story, who takes up a unique weapon in order to fight the destruction of his people.
The title of the documentary refers to an area of land in the center of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, occupied by the Uru-eu-wau-wau,...
- 11/30/2022
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
National Geographic Documentary Films has revealed the air dates for feature documentary “The Territory.”
The critically acclaimed film, which marks the feature documentary debut from director Alex Pritz, will premiere on National Geographic Channel on Dec. 1, at 10 p.m. Est/Pst and will then be available to stream Dec. 2 on Disney+.
“The Territory” provides an immersive look at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers.
With awe-inspiring cinematography showcasing the Amazonian landscape and richly textured sound design, the film takes audiences into the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau community and provides unprecedented access to the farmers and settlers illegally burning and clearing the protected Indigenous land.
The film is produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Sigrid Dyekjær (“The Cave”), Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida, Lizzie Gillett and Pritz. It is executive produced by Indigenous activist Txai Suruí, edited by Carlos Rojas Felice,...
The critically acclaimed film, which marks the feature documentary debut from director Alex Pritz, will premiere on National Geographic Channel on Dec. 1, at 10 p.m. Est/Pst and will then be available to stream Dec. 2 on Disney+.
“The Territory” provides an immersive look at the tireless fight of the Amazon’s Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people against the encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers.
With awe-inspiring cinematography showcasing the Amazonian landscape and richly textured sound design, the film takes audiences into the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau community and provides unprecedented access to the farmers and settlers illegally burning and clearing the protected Indigenous land.
The film is produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning Sigrid Dyekjær (“The Cave”), Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida, Lizzie Gillett and Pritz. It is executive produced by Indigenous activist Txai Suruí, edited by Carlos Rojas Felice,...
- 11/15/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
What excites you the most about being a documentary filmmaker? What documentary had a profound impact on you? When you finished your documentary, what was the hardest thing to let go of or walk away from?
These were some of the secrets revealed by four of today’s top documentary filmmakers when they joined Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders: Margaret Brown (“Descendant”), Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Alex Pritz (“The Territory”) and Trevor Frost & Melissa Lesh (“Wildcat”). Watch our lively group discussion above and click on each name to view their solo chat.
See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders
“I like the adrenaline rush of waking up every day and not knowing what’s going to happen,” says Brown. “That’s definitely why I do doc and not narrative. It’s exciting to figure things out on the fly. And also I really love my team.
These were some of the secrets revealed by four of today’s top documentary filmmakers when they joined Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders: Margaret Brown (“Descendant”), Sara Dosa (“Fire of Love”), Alex Pritz (“The Territory”) and Trevor Frost & Melissa Lesh (“Wildcat”). Watch our lively group discussion above and click on each name to view their solo chat.
See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders
“I like the adrenaline rush of waking up every day and not knowing what’s going to happen,” says Brown. “That’s definitely why I do doc and not narrative. It’s exciting to figure things out on the fly. And also I really love my team.
- 11/12/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
“Living in a habitable planet and being able to survive here for generations to come should not be a political issue,” declares Alex Pritz, director of the National Geographic documentary “The Territory.” “The conflict that we were looking at in Brazil, a lot of people are just focused on them and theirs. They agree the rainforest is a good thing. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s a national treasure for Brazil, but I just need my little chunk of it here. Then behind these small foot soldiers of colonialism and natural destruction are much larger business owners and people financing this.”
We talked with Pritz as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders
In “The Territory,” a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest,...
We talked with Pritz as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022/2023 awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See dozens of interviews with 2022/2023 awards contenders
In “The Territory,” a network of Brazilian farmers seizes a protected area of the Amazon rainforest,...
- 11/12/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
The Oscar prospects for Fire of Love, The Territory, and All That Breathes got a significant boost today with the announcement of the nominations for the 16th Annual Cinema Eye Honors.
Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love and Alex Pritz’s The Territory tied with a leading seven nominations apiece, while All That Breathes, from director Shaunak Sen, was recognized in half a dozen categories. Fellow Oscar contenders All the Beauty and the Bloodshed — the Venice Golden Lion winner directed by Laura Poitras — and Payal Kapadia’s A Night of Knowing Nothing earned four nominations apiece.
In the marquee category of Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, six films will go head to head at the Cinema Eye Honors: All That Breathes; All the Beauty and the Bloodshed; Fire of Love; Navalny — Daniel Roher’s documentary on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny; A Night of Knowing Nothing, and The Territory [see the full list of nominees below].
Pritz, making his...
Sara Dosa’s Fire of Love and Alex Pritz’s The Territory tied with a leading seven nominations apiece, while All That Breathes, from director Shaunak Sen, was recognized in half a dozen categories. Fellow Oscar contenders All the Beauty and the Bloodshed — the Venice Golden Lion winner directed by Laura Poitras — and Payal Kapadia’s A Night of Knowing Nothing earned four nominations apiece.
In the marquee category of Outstanding Nonfiction Feature, six films will go head to head at the Cinema Eye Honors: All That Breathes; All the Beauty and the Bloodshed; Fire of Love; Navalny — Daniel Roher’s documentary on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny; A Night of Knowing Nothing, and The Territory [see the full list of nominees below].
Pritz, making his...
- 11/10/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Chicago – The Amazon Rainforest, in the country of Brazil in South America, is often called the heartbeat of the world … its ecosystem is a regulator for climate and nature. As this natural land – and the native people who have called it home – is threatened by development, the story is told by director Alex Pritz in “The Territory.”
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“The Territory” is a shorthand for what is at stake in that part of the world. Not only are farmers and other “property” structures infiltrating the Amazon, but the indigenous native people (the Uru-eu-wau-wau tribe) – who have occupied the rainforest for generations – are dwindling and being forced out. The country of Brazil are coercing their laws onto the law of nature and tribal survival, and this “heartbeat of the world” is being slowly co-opted for the commercialization of human greed. It’s also up to the Uru-eu-wau-wau to save their land, against...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“The Territory” is a shorthand for what is at stake in that part of the world. Not only are farmers and other “property” structures infiltrating the Amazon, but the indigenous native people (the Uru-eu-wau-wau tribe) – who have occupied the rainforest for generations – are dwindling and being forced out. The country of Brazil are coercing their laws onto the law of nature and tribal survival, and this “heartbeat of the world” is being slowly co-opted for the commercialization of human greed. It’s also up to the Uru-eu-wau-wau to save their land, against...
- 8/23/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
When watching documentarian Alex Pritz’s The Territory, the conflict becomes all-consuming. The Uru-eu-wau-wau, less than 200 of them, become the clear heroes. The settlers and farmers, all of which are attempting to seize Indigenous land to make it their own, become the natural villains, despite their own struggles. Pritz stands behind the camera, shooting each side of the conflict, giving air time to those that protect and light this small section of the Amazon rainforest, allowing viewers to make their own judgments.
Composed of three years of footage, Pritz’s first feature oscillates between the lush beauty of the Amazon and the people inhabiting––or hoping to inhabit––the land. Bought by National Geographic after the Sundance Film Festival, the film explores a clash between hundreds of people, a dispute over a protection section of the rainforest. It isn’t trying to look at deforestation throughout the entire Amazon. It’s hyperfocused on the Uru-eu-wau-wau,...
Composed of three years of footage, Pritz’s first feature oscillates between the lush beauty of the Amazon and the people inhabiting––or hoping to inhabit––the land. Bought by National Geographic after the Sundance Film Festival, the film explores a clash between hundreds of people, a dispute over a protection section of the rainforest. It isn’t trying to look at deforestation throughout the entire Amazon. It’s hyperfocused on the Uru-eu-wau-wau,...
- 8/19/2022
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Chicago – The Amazon Rainforest, in the country of Brazil in South America, is often called the heartbeat of the world. Its ecosystem is a regulator for climate and nature, and it’s currently being threatened by development. This story is told in “The Territory,” represented by Gabriel Uchida (producer) and Txai Surui (Executive Producer).
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“The Territory” is a shorthand for what is at stake in that part of the world. Not only are farmers and other “property” structures infiltrating the Amazon, but the indigenous native people (the Uru-eu-wau-wau tribe) – who have occupied the rainforest for generations – are dwindling and being forced out. The country of Brazil are coercing their laws onto the law of nature and tribal survival, and this “heartbeat of the world” is being slowly co-opted for the commercialization of human greed. It’s also up to the Uru-eu-wau-wau to save their land, against a tide of...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“The Territory” is a shorthand for what is at stake in that part of the world. Not only are farmers and other “property” structures infiltrating the Amazon, but the indigenous native people (the Uru-eu-wau-wau tribe) – who have occupied the rainforest for generations – are dwindling and being forced out. The country of Brazil are coercing their laws onto the law of nature and tribal survival, and this “heartbeat of the world” is being slowly co-opted for the commercialization of human greed. It’s also up to the Uru-eu-wau-wau to save their land, against a tide of...
- 8/17/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The danger to those who try to speak up about the assault on Brazil's indigenous communities since the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro was elected in 2018 recently made UK news with the murder of journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira earlier this summer. Alex Pritz's documentary comes at the issue from a spectrum of viewpoints to show just how wide and deep the threat to a 7,000-square-mile patch of the Amazon and the indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau who live there is.
While there's no doubting whose side his film is on, Pritz is comprehensive in his considerations of the perspectives not only of the Uru-eu-wau-wau and environmental activist Neidinha Bandeira but of farm workers, and at the more extreme end 'settlers', who are keen to raise sections of the forest and secure their own patch of farmland. Among them is Sérgio, a labourer who is endeavouring to take over parts.
While there's no doubting whose side his film is on, Pritz is comprehensive in his considerations of the perspectives not only of the Uru-eu-wau-wau and environmental activist Neidinha Bandeira but of farm workers, and at the more extreme end 'settlers', who are keen to raise sections of the forest and secure their own patch of farmland. Among them is Sérgio, a labourer who is endeavouring to take over parts.
- 8/16/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Darren Aronofsky may be known for tense psychological dramas ranging from “Requiem for a Dream” to “The Wrestler,” and has another one in the pipeline this fall with “The Whale,” but the filmmaker has a side hustle with much loftier aims. As the producer of the National Geographic series “One Strange Rock” and “Welcome to Earth” through his company Protozoa Pictures, Aronofsky has been pushing for environmentally-conscious non-fiction projects in tandem with his own directorial undertakings, which he sees as a direct response to divisive Washington rhetoric.
“It’s a very sad state of affairs to call the environment political,” Aronofsky told IndieWire in a recent interview. “I don’t know how we lost control of that conversation.”
His latest effort on that front is “The Territory,” filmmaker Alex Pritz’s intense debut feature that follows the efforts of the Indigenous Amazon community called Uru-eu-wau-wau to protect their land from aggressive deforestation efforts.
“It’s a very sad state of affairs to call the environment political,” Aronofsky told IndieWire in a recent interview. “I don’t know how we lost control of that conversation.”
His latest effort on that front is “The Territory,” filmmaker Alex Pritz’s intense debut feature that follows the efforts of the Indigenous Amazon community called Uru-eu-wau-wau to protect their land from aggressive deforestation efforts.
- 8/15/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Closing out the summer movie season, August probably won’t repeat last year when it comes to including the release of the eventual Best Picture. But there are still a number of worthwhile offerings, including the most essential at the very end of the month. See our picks to watch below.
10. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford; Aug. 12)
Taking part in ten Sundance premieres over the last ten years, Aubrey Plaza’s niche in the world of independent cinema has been well-carved. Reaching into darker territory as of late, from Ingrid Goes West to Black Bear, her latest film, Emily the Criminal, takes things to a logical next step, placing the actress in strictly thriller territory as her character’s job prospects dwindle and she’s faced with getting into a dangerous, underground world of illegal activity. John Patton Ford’s debut as writer-director is simplistically crafted in both plotting and form,...
10. Emily the Criminal (John Patton Ford; Aug. 12)
Taking part in ten Sundance premieres over the last ten years, Aubrey Plaza’s niche in the world of independent cinema has been well-carved. Reaching into darker territory as of late, from Ingrid Goes West to Black Bear, her latest film, Emily the Criminal, takes things to a logical next step, placing the actress in strictly thriller territory as her character’s job prospects dwindle and she’s faced with getting into a dangerous, underground world of illegal activity. John Patton Ford’s debut as writer-director is simplistically crafted in both plotting and form,...
- 8/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Produced by Sigrid Dyekjær and Darren Aronofsky, Alex Pritz’s directorial debut The Territory, partially shot by the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, examines the Indigenous community’s struggle in the Amazon to fight encroaching deforestation brought by farmers and illegal settlers. A winner at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, National Geographic Documentary Films will now release the film in theaters on August 19 and the first trailer has arrived.
Michael Frank said in his review, “There are about 180 Uru-eu-wau-wau people left in the Brazilian Amazon. This community lives off the land, protecting the Amazon from deforestation, constant threats of violence, and an expanding base of anti-Indigenous sentiment, streaming from the far-right emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro. Over three years, filmmaker Alex Pritz spent time with these native Brazilians for The Territory, a collaborative, vérité documentary that’s both engaging and terrifying. Pritz even hands over the camera to the Uru-eu-wau-wau at one point,...
Michael Frank said in his review, “There are about 180 Uru-eu-wau-wau people left in the Brazilian Amazon. This community lives off the land, protecting the Amazon from deforestation, constant threats of violence, and an expanding base of anti-Indigenous sentiment, streaming from the far-right emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro. Over three years, filmmaker Alex Pritz spent time with these native Brazilians for The Territory, a collaborative, vérité documentary that’s both engaging and terrifying. Pritz even hands over the camera to the Uru-eu-wau-wau at one point,...
- 6/23/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
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