Piripkura (2017)

Directed by: Renata Terra, Bruno Jorge, Mariana Oliva | 81 minutes | documentary

The Brazilian documentary ‘Piripkura’ begins with an exciting opening scene: a handheld camera leads us through dense forest, in search of traces of two indigenous men who are wanted by the squad. The lens focuses on the swampy ground, where fresh footsteps are clearly visible in the mud. Excitedly, the small expedition led by Jari Candor follows the tracks, which turn out to belong to two members of the native Piripkura. The footprints and remains of a recently extinguished fire mean they must have been here recently. But the men are not easy to find.

The two men involved, Pakyî and Tamandua, are two of the three possibly last members of the indigenous Piripkura, and still live nomadically in the Amazon, in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. Their habitat is surrounded by cattle ranches and sawmills, which are a constant threat to the lives of the men. Livestock and illegal logging have horribly reduced and polluted the territory in recent decades, and diseases and targeted killings (often ordered by landowners) exterminated the indigenous inhabitants living in the areas.

FUNAI, Brazil’s government agency for the protection of the indigenous people, enforced a ban on expanding the activities of sawmills and farms in the area, in order to protect the habitat of the Piripkura. The ordinance prohibits unauthorized access to the rainforest area, but must be renewed every two years. In order to maintain the protected status, it must be proven that the men are still alive. That’s why FUNAI employee Jair goes into the jungle every few years in search of the two.

The protagonist in the first half hour of the film is not one of the men, but Rita, Pakyî’s sister and Tamandua’s aunt. She is the intermediary, between Jair and the Piripkura and in the first instance also between the viewer and the wonderful world far in the woods. The cheerful Rita regularly accompanies Jair and his crew on their quests. When most of her family, including Rita’s two children, was massacred by whites years earlier, she fled across the river with her mother and grandmother. The other women did not survive, but Rita ended up in civilization, married a native man from another tribe, and now lives in a simple wooden yard in the woods, leaving her nomadic existence and only living family behind.

As Jair, Rita and her husband begin the search, the camera follows them along the red-orange roads of the Mato Grosso, where trucks loaded with logs drive back and forth. A painful sight, this reference to the ongoing threat to indigenous peoples throughout the Amazon. Jair is concerned about how much longer FUNAI will be able to exercise her little power. And is that enough to continue to protect the two men?

Despite the heaviness of the theme, the hushed images of pouring rain on the braided roofs, a colony of ants at work, the morning sun shining through the dense canopy and a cacophony of animal sounds give a beautiful and lively impression of the immense forest. Whoever needed to be convinced of the importance of protecting them is now.

Tension builds when Jair goes on another expedition a few months later, with two colleagues and an interpreter, followed by the film crew. Consternation all around when they run into Pakyî and Tamandua out of nowhere. The reason for this meeting soon becomes apparent: the two men were also looking for them, because their fire, in the form of a torch that they had been able to keep burning since 1998, had gone out. The flaming torch and an ax are their only possessions and without either of them, they are essentially lost.

Despite very limited communication, the FUNAI team manages to get the two men to stay at the camp with them for a few days to recuperate. The encounter is fascinating and moving. “They have amazing survival skills,” says Jair, and it shows, as they’ve been able to survive in the forest unaided for years. And more than that: the two appear to be perfectly healthy after undergoing a physical examination, and enjoy the tasty snacks and comfort of a hammock – for a few days, yes.

The intimate images of the two, together in a hammock, their calloused feet dangling out, are of a moving beauty that should give every viewer a jolt of humanity. The kind of film you hope all world leaders would watch together.

During IDFA 2017 ‘Piripkura’ won the Amsterdam Human Rights Award. “With this gripping and extraordinary story, the filmmakers touch on a wide range of issues that should be high on the global human rights agenda,” the jury wrote. The documentary is currently running until April 2 as part of The Best of IDFA on tour.