The Territory | Contenders TV Nominees 2023 - video Dailymotion

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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.

The Territory | Contenders TV Nominees 2023

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