Xingu

In the forties three brothers, Orlando, Cláudio and Leonardo Villas-Bôas, join a government expedition opening up the interior of Brazil. The aim is to cut a road through the middle of the country and establish settlements. The brothers meet the indigenous peoples living on the land the expedition crosses, and change sides: they stop being part of the survey and become people trying to protect those who live there. After a struggle lasting years, the Xingu Indigenous Park is created. Cao Hamburger directs. Felipe Camargo, João Miguel and Caio Blat play the brothers. The Villas-Bôas brothers were real and count as the best known defenders of indigenous rights in Brazilian history; the Xingu Park, established in 1961, was the first protected indigenous territory of that scale in South America. Where the film is honest is the brothers' own contradiction. They arrived as officers of the state, and even the idea of protection is an intervention from outside; the narrative does not hide it. The indigenous actors come from real communities and speak in their own languages. Fernando Meirelles is among the producers. The weakness is the point of view; the story is told to the end through the eyes of three white men and the indigenous characters do not carry their own account. Who it is for: anyone interested in Brazilian history and indigenous rights. Who it is not for: the narrative passes quickly over a long period, the characters do not separate, and the film does not fully make its own criticism.