The Territory | Contenders TV Nominees 2023
The Territory | Contenders TV Nominees 2023
Transcript
00:00 I'm Matt Carey, documentary editor at Deadline.
00:02 We now have a very powerful award-winning documentary
00:06 for you from National Geographic Documentary Films.
00:10 It is "The Territory," which is nominated for three Emmys,
00:13 including Exceptional Merit and Documentary Filmmaking.
00:17 We are joined now by Alex Pritz,
00:19 the producer, director, and cinematographer,
00:23 and all the way from the Brazilian Amazon rainforest,
00:27 we have with us the Emmy-nominated cinematographer,
00:30 Tanguy Uru-Iwawau.
00:32 Thank you so much for being with us.
00:34 - Thanks, Matt.
00:36 - So your film takes a look at how the Uru territory
00:43 has been invaded, really, by outsiders
00:48 beginning about 40-some years ago.
00:52 These are illegal miners, land grabbers, farmers, settlers,
00:56 who are encroaching on this territory
00:58 in violation of the law.
01:01 Before we get into questions,
01:02 let's take a look at a clip from the film,
01:04 and this shows Nedinha, who is an important ally of the Uru,
01:08 who's really risked her life to protect their territory.
01:12 Let's take a look at that clip.
01:14 (somber music)
01:17 (Nedinha speaks in foreign language)
01:26 (somber music)
01:28 (Nedinha speaks in foreign language)
01:41 (somber music)
01:51 (water trickling)
01:54 - Well, Tanguy, I was wondering, in 1981,
02:15 the Uru community was first contacted by outsiders.
02:20 I was wondering, in that time period,
02:22 how much of your territory has been seized
02:26 and burned down and used for farmland by outsiders?
02:30 (Tanguy speaks in foreign language)
02:37 - My parents tell me that in about the 1980s,
02:41 we still lived in the forest like we used to,
02:45 but then from the 1970s onward,
02:48 what my father says is that a lot of white people came
02:52 and they were splitting up, dividing up the land.
02:55 You know, my community, we would walk on foot,
02:59 and we were able to walk long distances,
03:02 and back then, we could walk the whole state of Rondônia.
03:06 We could just go all around on foot,
03:09 and we were still in the forest.
03:11 And then once we started feeling that pressure
03:14 from outsiders, from invaders,
03:16 even though organizations were trying to protect it,
03:19 they were trying to make some kind of border,
03:22 people were not respecting our territory,
03:25 and then PUNAI was created,
03:27 the Organization to Protect Indigenous People,
03:30 and they were helping the indigenous cause,
03:33 but over time, it was really weakened as an organization.
03:37 The government kept changing,
03:38 people in charge kept changing,
03:40 and we started coming in contact
03:42 with people from the outside.
03:44 We had less food, there was less things to hunt, less fish,
03:47 the rivers were drying up,
03:49 and we didn't have as many places to go.
03:52 And PUNAI came in, and they noticed
03:55 that we were suffering more and more threats,
03:58 that we were, there were people invading,
04:01 that were not indigenous people,
04:02 the illegal miners, the cattle ranchers,
04:04 and this was happening all around where we lived,
04:07 and we were lacking a lot of food, actually.
04:11 Even though we had demarcated territory,
04:14 it was never respected.
04:16 So we came up with strategies to try to ask for support
04:19 from PUNAI, from the police
04:21 that were helping the indigenous people at the time,
04:24 and we tried many different ways.
04:26 We would report them, this was going on for a long time,
04:32 and during that time,
04:34 I think Nejinia was already working with us.
04:37 I'm not sure when she started working with us,
04:39 but I think she was already here, active.
04:43 I think it was 2008, 2009.
04:45 We thought, you know,
04:48 the government really isn't doing anything.
04:50 We thought we should make a movie.
04:53 We should register what's happening,
04:56 because we noticed it wasn't just Brazilians
04:59 who were doing this.
05:00 There were people that were raising cattle
05:03 on our territory, other things.
05:05 We needed to show people who were not,
05:09 rather, show not just the Brazilians,
05:10 but show the outside world what was happening.
05:13 And right now, for example,
05:14 the temperature in Rondônia is very, very hot.
05:18 The sun right now is burning, it's in the morning,
05:21 and that's because there's lack of land.
05:24 I think that happens all over Brazil.
05:26 We're protecting, and we want to protect everyone.
05:30 We want to protect the entire planet,
05:32 and this has been discussed a lot.
05:34 Alex heard a lot about this,
05:36 and in terms of climate change,
05:39 and so maybe he can talk a little bit about that too,
05:43 about climate change.
05:44 But I'm telling you what my father told me.
05:46 He really knew the land.
05:48 He knew the climate.
05:50 In the past, indigenous people had connection with nature.
05:54 The older ones still have that connection
05:56 with birds and other elements in nature,
06:00 and they can tell from the birds what's happening.
06:03 That's really interesting,
06:04 because we, as indigenous people, had that knowledge,
06:08 and we had connection to nature.
06:11 Just listening to what's happening out in nature, we knew.
06:14 And of course, now we also have the internet
06:16 to know what's happening out there,
06:18 and that's an update that we have now as younger people,
06:21 as indigenous younger people.
06:23 And I think the only way to fight this battle right now
06:27 is to talk, is to have a dialogue as people,
06:31 so that we're seen as people.
06:33 - Thank you.
06:34 Alex, what has it been like for you
06:37 to spend so much time in the Uruguay territory?
06:42 It's extraordinary, the beautiful photography in the film,
06:47 both you and Tanguy are Emmy nominated for your work.
06:50 It's the cinematography, but for you to be in it,
06:54 what is it like?
06:55 And also to see this precious land destroyed, so much of it.
07:00 - Yeah, it's been a little while since I've been there.
07:03 I'm missing it a lot right now, actually.
07:06 But it's a real honor to be invited
07:10 into any indigenous territory.
07:13 And that's really the process.
07:14 You have to show up and present your work,
07:17 and it's only when you're invited in
07:20 that you're really allowed to enter that territory.
07:23 And it's beautiful.
07:26 It's just bursting at the seams with life.
07:28 I've never been in such a sonically rich environment
07:31 as the Amazon rainforest.
07:34 I think about it a lot.
07:36 And it's really hard to see it get destroyed,
07:40 especially for monoculture, beef, soy, mega ranches.
07:45 When you think about all the diversity,
07:48 we discover a new species in the Amazon rainforest
07:51 every two days on average.
07:53 And so you think about all the medicines,
07:55 all of the richness that's out there,
07:57 all of humanity is losing that
08:00 when those species end up going extinct.
08:04 - And Tengai, I was wondering what you have learned
08:08 about filmmaking and making a documentary
08:13 during the process of the territory,
08:17 because you acquired those skills as a cinematographer
08:21 that we see in the film.
08:22 - It was a really great experience for me.
08:28 As we grew up, we were seeing what I call the real world.
08:32 When we were young, we were just in the river,
08:35 we were fishing.
08:36 When I was about 12 or 13,
08:38 I noticed that I needed to learn more things.
08:41 I realized I needed to study.
08:43 I realized that I needed some new kind of knowledge,
08:47 knowledge that was focused more on the future
08:50 and the future of the land.
08:51 And right now I'm a teacher.
08:54 I actually teach in the classroom.
08:56 And so I wanted to increase my knowledge for the classroom.
09:00 It's a small group of people
09:01 that are in from first to fifth grade.
09:03 They're also learning just like I was learning.
09:05 When I started, when I learned how to read and write,
09:08 at that point I was already updating myself, right?
09:11 I was learning more words and I knew that I would need it.
09:14 And then at some point Alex showed up
09:17 and he said he wanted to work.
09:19 Before it was just indigenous people
09:20 who were doing the work, but we weren't being respected.
09:24 I know a lot of things happened before Alex showed up.
09:27 So we decided to record a video
09:29 and then make the movie like we did.
09:31 And it was a very big experience for me,
09:34 a very great experience.
09:35 Through technology, I was able to acquire
09:38 a lot of different types of knowledge.
09:41 And before we used to take pictures and video on cell phones,
09:44 but then when I started working with the team,
09:47 then it was serious.
09:48 I know there was some training and it was really good.
09:50 It was really good.
09:51 God willing in the future,
09:54 and if Alex continues with the team,
09:56 I want to continue working.
09:58 I want indigenous people,
09:59 I want us to be able to tell our own story.
10:02 You know, we have legends, we have stories, narratives,
10:06 and I would like to present those legends
10:08 so that children can watch them in the classroom,
10:11 not just listen to them,
10:13 but they could see something visual.
10:15 That's what I'd like to do in the future.
10:16 I hope I can do that.
10:18 Just a short video to show in a classroom.
10:22 We have all kinds of legends.
10:23 There's funny ones, there's suspenseful ones.
10:27 That's my focus for the future,
10:28 you know, by getting the support from you all
10:31 and contributing knowledge, exchanging knowledge,
10:34 and maybe you can see our work.
10:37 So I hope I can do that new work, you know,
10:40 so that it comes out so that it's entertaining, it's fun.
10:43 You know, I know first I have to start by writing it down
10:46 and then make a video,
10:47 and then we can show it in the classroom.
10:49 And then the students will be able to understand.
10:52 It's not just that it's a video, but there's a record of it.
10:55 And I think that's important.
10:58 Young people nowadays, I'll talk about myself,
11:00 you know, everything's going by very quickly.
11:03 We consume a lot of things very quickly.
11:05 You know, the last five years we started using,
11:07 learning how to use cell phones and all that,
11:09 but then we forgot about our history, our legends.
11:13 So I think it would be interesting
11:14 if we could work with that.
11:15 And I'd like support from you who are here
11:18 and our other peers to make this video and to make movies.
11:23 And that's it.
11:24 - Alex, I'm wondering about the impact of the film.
11:28 It's been seen around the world.
11:29 It's won many, many awards.
11:31 It was part of the Oscar race
11:33 and now nominated for three Emmys.
11:35 What's been the impact in Brazil and around the world?
11:39 - It's been, I think, one of the greatest joys
11:44 of having a big release with this film
11:46 is that we've been able to do so much with it
11:49 from an impact perspective.
11:52 And so, you know, that took all different forms.
11:56 You know, legislative goals.
11:57 We worked with members of European Parliament
12:00 to help pass the anti-deforestation bill,
12:05 which broadened the class of products
12:07 that were banned from being imported into Europe
12:10 if they were linked to illegal deforestation.
12:13 Originally it had been mostly focused around illegal timber,
12:16 you know, wood from trees,
12:17 but really, you know, meat that is coming from cows
12:21 that have been illegally grazing on indigenous land
12:23 needed to be included in that.
12:25 So did leather from those cows,
12:27 you know, a whole new class of products.
12:29 And that's real tangible impact
12:31 that this film was able to help support.
12:33 On the ground in Brazil,
12:35 working with Tangai and the Ruruau
12:38 to support ongoing film efforts from indigenous creatives.
12:42 You know, there's been a whole range of things
12:45 that this film has been able to do.
12:47 It's more than we ever imagined, I think,
12:49 when we started out,
12:50 but it's been really, really invigorating, I think,
12:53 to see that take shape.
12:55 - Well, it's an extraordinary film.
12:58 It's the territory from National Geographic
13:00 Documentary Films,
13:02 nominated for three Emmys for Alex, Your Direction,
13:06 Your Cinematography, Tangai for Your Cinematography,
13:10 and also for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking.
13:14 So that's a wonderful honor, well-deserved.
13:17 Congratulations to you.
13:19 - Thank you, Alex Pritz,
13:21 the Director, Producer, and Cinematographer
13:23 on Tangai Ururuau for joining us.
13:26 - Thank you, Matt.