Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

The Territory Paints a Beautiful and Devastating Portrait of the Past, Present, and Future

01/02/2022

By Stephanie Ornelas

From its opening shot until the credits roll, Alex Pritz's Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary about a land dispute in Brazil unfolds in visually-captivating and immersive fashion. So much so that one forgets the style of film that they're watching until a fourth wall is broken with natural, on-the-fly interviews that are so artfully captured, they feel like seamless conversations between the subjects. It's no wonder the film took home the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary.

In The Territory, everything seems to be so carefully crafted and placed in the film, from stunning cinematography that ranges from the seemingly impossible (for a documentary), to entrancing cin ma v rit and impeccable sound design that places you right in the middle of the environment with the Indigenous Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, the rightful owners of the land at the heart of the dispute.

I had watched what happened under the Trump administration in the U.S., and what had happened to protected areas - areas of ecological and cultural significance - to different groups here. And watching the election campaign unfold in Brazil, I understood that this would be a really difficult time for frontline communities in the Amazon if he were to win, says Pritz.

So that started a conversation with our Brazilian producer Gabriel Uchid as well as Neidinha Cardozo, who was the first person he got in touch with.

She told him, My life is interesting, protecting this ecosystem is interesting, but the community that I have been working with for the past 40 years - they are really the ones who are on the frontlines [when it comes to] protecting this ecosystem and our fight for a liveable futute.

During the post-screening Q&A, Cardozo says, we really felt that Alex was going to allow us to talk to the world using our voice. He was wonderful in being able to give this message using the voice of the Amazon.

Surrounded by farms on all sides, the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, once a tribe of 2000 people who live on their protected reservation in the state of Rond nia, are on the brink of extinction. Their numbers are down to less than 200 people, as invaders and land settlers try to take the land as their own, burning the rainforest without regard for the law, the environment, or health-related consequences.

The Territory's journey is embedded with the invaders and the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau for three years, which helps to paint a neutral picture while observing and allowing the natural flow of events without intrusion or obstruction, although it's impossible to ignore the truth and gravity of the situation.

The film's beautiful imagery might remind viewers of cutting-edge documentaries such as Planet Earth and countless National Geographic films, whose vibrant cinematography is ingrained into the style of this film in every scene. It displays the flora and fauna of the Amazon rainforest in its natural beauty, while underlining one of many things at stake in this land-grab fight.

On the surface, The Territory is about the rightful owners of an Indigenous territory facing a massive uphill battle against invaders closing in on all sides, without the Brazilian government intervening to protect them. While destroying their land, and even killing their people in some instances, the invaders also bring with them the coronavirus, putting a vulnerable society at risk.

Alex Pritz and co-cinematographer Tangae Uru-eu-wau-wau bring to life and to light a beautiful, devastating, and riveting story of resilience, a fight for survival, and the pursuit of sharing the truth with the world.
LINK: https://www.sundance.org/blogs/the-territory-paints-a-beautiful-and-de...
See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

28/01/2026

2026 Sundance Film Festival Reveals Short Film Program Award Winners

Top L-R: The Liars, Jazz Infernal, Living with a Visionary Second Row L-R: Paper Trail, The Baddest Speechwriter of All, Crisis Actor Third Row: The Boys and ...

28/01/2026

3 Easy Ways to Discover Music That Fits Your Moment on Spotify

Music discovery should feel intuitive and personal. That's why we're continuing to give you more control, so you can ask for what you want, shape what y...

28/01/2026

From $11B in 2025 Payouts to What We're Building for Artists in 2026

Today, Charlie Hellman, Spotify's Head of Music, shared the following note on the Spotify for Artists blog that the company paid out more than $11 billion t...

28/01/2026

Sediba Scriptwriting Training Programme - Oudtshoorn Municipality (Second Call)

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), in partnership with the Oudtshoorn Municipality, invites aspiring and emerging filmmakers to apply for the Sediba...

28/01/2026

MVP makes a tactical switch to Calrec Argo M

As demand for more complex live sports coverage grows, Balkan broadcast specialist MVP has upgraded its flagship HD1 progressive OB truck with the installation ...

28/01/2026

Aussies' love of travel sees 12% surge in ad investment according to Nielsen

Airlines, cruise and tour operators double down on ad spend as Australians' prioritise travel Sydney January 28, 2026 - New Nielsen Ad Intel data shows a...

28/01/2026

Daniel Finn Joins LABF in Philanthropy Role

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

Tegna Expands Local News Offering with Revamped Mobile App

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

Marshall Electronics Unveils CV420 27X UHD Camera at ISE...

Marshall Electronics launches the CV420-27X, its next-generation ultra-high-definition (UHD) IP camera, at ISE 2026 (Stand 4N900). Engineered for modern IP-base...

28/01/2026

TVM Selects Grass Valley Technology for OB Truck Refurbis...

Grass Valley has announced that Television Mobiles Ltd. (TVM), one of Europe's leading independent outside broadcast providers, has carried out a major refu...

28/01/2026

FOR-A to show cutting edge technology at FOMEX 2026

AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities FOR-A is bringing remarkable new technologies to FOMEX, the Future of Media Exhibition (ex...

28/01/2026

Riedel and Media Tailor Deliver Unified Broadcast and AV...

Continuing a longstanding collaboration, Riedel Communications and Nordic media technology company Media Tailor have once again joined forces to deliver a state...

28/01/2026

Pebble appoints Paul Nagle-Smith to drive fulfilment

Pebble has appointed Paul Nagle-Smith as vice president for customer fulfilment, strengthening its senior leadership focus on customer delivery and operational ...

28/01/2026

TV Azteca Strengthens Disaster Recovery Capabilities with...

Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset has announced that leading Mexican broadcaster, TV Azteca is using Veset Nimbus on AWS as a disaster recovery (DR) playo...

28/01/2026

MVP kicks off major football tournament with a tactical s...

Ensuring it can keep pace with a rapidly evolving live sports market, Balkan broadcast facility provider MVP Most Valuable Production has upgraded its flags...

28/01/2026

Akamai and Yospace Deliver Seamless Personalized Ad Exper...

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cloud solutions provider that powers and protects life online, and Yospace, the leader in dynamic ad insertion tec...

28/01/2026

Clear-Com Empowers Reykjavik City Theatre with New Upgrad...

The renowned Reykjavik City Theatre (RCT) recently underwent a major intercom system upgrade using Clear-Com solutions. This milestone project utilizes Clear-C...

28/01/2026

SES Acknowledges Fitch's Rating Action and Reiterates Deleveraging Plan

Luxembourg, January 26, 2026 - SES S.A. ( SES or the Company ), a leading space solutions company, acknowledges the credit rating action announced by Fitch to...

28/01/2026

OpenDrives Announces New Funding, Appoints Trevor Morgan CEO

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

AWARN Alliance Backs ATSC Sunset, NextGen TV Security Measures

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

More Than Two Dozen Groups Tell FCC to Reject Nexstar-Tegna Deal

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach to increase the impact of local content

28 01 2026 - Media release Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach...

28/01/2026

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonardo Dugan

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...

28/01/2026

Rohde & Schwarz to host 2026 edition of its online event Demystifying EMC

Rohde & Schwarz to host 2026 edition of its online event Demystifying EMC Rohde & Schwarz invites the global EMC community to join a crucial discussion on pre...

28/01/2026

The Wait Is Over: Teaser Trailer Drops for 'Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole'

Back to All News The Wait Is Over: Teaser Trailer Drops for Jo Nesbo's Dete...

28/01/2026

Netflix Announces a Fictional Miniseries Inspired by the Marta del Castillo Case

Back to All News Netflix Announces a Fictional Miniseries Inspired by the Marta del Castillo Case Entertainment 28 January 2026 GlobalSpain Link copied to ...

28/01/2026

Netflix Announces Santiago Mitre's New Film Starring Vernica Llins and Peter Lanzani

Back to All News Netflix Announces Santiago Mitres New Film Starring Ver nica L...

28/01/2026

Netflix Unveils the Teaser Trailer for 'Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine'

Back to All News Netflix Unveils the Teaser Trailer for Berlin and the Lady wit...

28/01/2026

Stadtwerke Wolfhagen modernize customer management with AEP.EnergySuite from Arvato Systems

Stadtwerke Wolfhagen Modernize Customer Management with AEP.energysuite from Arv...

27/01/2026

Akamai and Yospace Deliver Seamless, Personalised Ad Experiences to Tens of Millions of ABEMA Users

Click for Japanese version Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...

27/01/2026

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Name Winners of Science-In-Film Initiative's Feature Film Prize and Artist Grants

L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...

27/01/2026

B-LINE Is Here to Help: Backline Launches 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health & Crisis Support Line in Partnership with Spotify

Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...

27/01/2026

Netn Vega's Genre-Bending Sound Hits a Crossover Moment on Spotify's RADAR

With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...

27/01/2026

25 Ontario Named One of Torontos Best New Buildings

January 14, 2026 We are proud to share that 25 Ontario, First Gulf's commercial project located just two minutes from our head office, has been recognized ...

27/01/2026

Full-Building Lease Secured at Speers Road

January 22, 2026 First Gulf is excited to share that a full-building lease has been secured at 625 Bronte Rd in Oakville, part of Bronte Station Business Park,...

27/01/2026

Another Gold for First Gulf and 351 King Street East

January 23, 2026 First Gulf continues to demonstrate its commitment to high-performance, sustainable real estate with 351 King Street East achieving BOMA BEST ...

27/01/2026

Clear-Com Empowers Reykjavik City Theatre with New Upgrades

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

27/01/2026

Hubbard Broadcasting Renews Partnership With Nielsen in Albany and Albuquerque-Santa Fe Markets

Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement in...

27/01/2026

Pebble Adds Paul Nagle-Smith as VP of Customer Fulfillment

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Study: Top Reason for Cancelling Streaming Service Is Programming

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

U.K.'s Digital TV Group Taps Leslie Mackenzie as Chair

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Amagi becomes the first cloud-native SaaS company offerin...

Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...

27/01/2026

Miri Technologies Launches V410 Live 4K Video Encoder-Dec...

Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...

27/01/2026

UML Tsongas Center Upgrades with Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras

The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...

27/01/2026

SipRadius provides simplicity and security for AV content...

SipRadius, specialists in secure, low latency media transport, will show the pro AV community its end-to-end solution for high quality content distribution and ...