British Universities Film & Video Council

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Birdwatchers

Alternative title
(Terra Degli Uomini Rossi, La
Synopsis
A drama in which a group of indigenous people face off against the modern day owners of their ancestral homeland.In Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, the farming classes lead a wealthy and leisurely existence. Owning vast swaths of agricultural land, covered with GM (genetically modified) crops, they spend their nights entertaining tourists who have come to the area on bird watching holidays. Meanwhile, the indigenous Guarani-Kaiowá people live an uneasy existence on the fringes of the farmers land. Treated as another curiosity by the bird watchers they are forced to live on enclosed reserves. Employment prospects are bleak with little option than to work as semi-slaves on sugar beet plantations. It is a situation that drives many young people to suicide.

One such suicide begins to stir up a rebellion within the local Guarani-Kaiowá community. Led by Nadio and the local shaman the group set up an encampment on the border of a farming estate in a bid to regain the land on which their forefathers are buried. Thus the two opposing worlds are forced to face each other, clashing both ideologically as well as physically. However, both sides are also fascinated and curious about "the other". This curiosity begins to flower into relationships, best exemplified by the deep bonds that develop between the young shaman apprentice Osvaldo, and the farmer’s daughter Maria. But whether their young love can withstand the cultural fissures of a nation remains to be seen.
Language
Portuguese (Brazil) (Portuguese with English subtitles)
Country
Brazil; Italy
Year of release
2010
Year of production
2008
Subjects
Anthropology; Development studies; Geography
Keywords
Brazil; Indians of North & South America; indigenous peoples; land rights; social geography

Credits

Director
Marco Bechis

Distribution Formats

Type
DVD
Format
Region 2 PAL
Price
£15.99
Availability
Sale
Duration/Size
108 minutes
Year
2010

Distributor

Name

Artificial Eye

Web
http://www.artificial-eye.com External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7240 5353
Fax
020 7240 5242
Address
20-22 Stukeley Street
London
WC2B 5LR
Notes
Independent film and video distributor with an emphasis on foreign language titles. Sale on DVD via retail outlets.
 

Available from retail outlets

Name

Survival International

Phone
020 7242 1441
Fax
020 7242 1771
Address
London
WC1N 3QL
Notes
Contact: Libarty Bollen, e-mail: lb@survival-international.org (4/00)

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