In 2009, Juma Xipaia, 18, announced that his destiny “would fight for the indigenous cause. Defending my people. My life,” she added with a discreet prescience, “will be a part of the struggle.” Barely six years later, she became the first female chef of the Middle Xingu, in the Amazonian basin of Brazil. Since then, she has led a movement for international protection of the Amazon, has survived half a dozen assassination attempts, studied law and medicine, was the first secretary of Aboriginal rights in Brazil and became a mother. She is currently 34 years old.
For five years, the documentary maker Richard Ladkani (“Jane’s Journey”) joined himself and his crew with Juma and her husband Hugo, head of special operations of EPA in Brazil. Although it is the main objective, the result is an inspiring portrait of two undeniably remarkable environmental defenders. We are by their side because they experience both unexpected highs and devastating stockings, which are spectacularly impacted by the nature of Brazilian politics. When the autocratic Jair Bolsonaro is elected, the fate of the Amazon decreases seriously, and when it is defeated by the socially liberal Lula, there are clues of promise and even progress.
Juma is a film producer, who undermines any feeling of objectivity; “Yanuni” is as reverential as a portrait can be. But this also guarantees immediate and intense access, allowing us to be present wherever it and Hugo can be: political meetings, raids on illegal mining camps, the hospital room where it gives birth.
Leonardo DiCaprio is also a producer, which adds a little brilliant to an unexpected choice for the end -of -night film of the Tribeca Festival. But for the big credit of the festival, this shameless and openly political eco-document is not a typical gala entry. Without a high-level niche during a big festival, a film like this could very well be overlooked. As Juma knows clearly, when there is no end to the exploitation, there is no rest for the exploited.
This is why she wanted to participate in a documentary like this. Seizure of land, mining, overfishing, journalization: stingy affirmations on the Amazon and its indigenous peoples are almost endless. And each time she and Hugo expose or destroy a group of criminals, another appears, ready to earn money while contaminating water, poisoning children, hiding villages.
“We have been at war for a very long time,” said Juma. The Amazon “is not only a forest. It is our mother. It is to know and healing. They invade, fly our territories. Our sacred place, the house of enchanted, our protectors, animals and rivers that they dry out. ”
The world can never free itself from corrupt leaders or carefree opportunists who follow them as parasites. This means that not only do we need more activists like Juma and Hugo, but we must also learn more about them. “Yanuni” is an ideal place to start.
