In the western Brazilian state of Rondônia, deep inside the Amazon, a swath of rainforest spans an area two and a half times the size of Delaware—a rich green oasis surrounded by pale farmland. Fewer than 200 people live here: the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous people, just a fraction of the population of thousands the Brazilian government first made contact with in the 1980s.

The Uru-eu-wau-wau—and their tireless fight against deforestation—are the subjects of the National Geographic documentary O território, produced in association with TIME Studios, which releases in theaters on Friday.

Forty years ago, Brazilian officials made first contact with a tribe of Indigenous warriors called the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau in the rain forests of the western state of Rondônia. The contact was the culmination of a years-long pacification campaign by FUNAI, Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, to lure the tribe from the jungle with gifts, such as knives, axes, cloth, and mirrors.

The ramifications of that contact, and the tribe’s resolve to defend its land and traditions, is now the subject of a powerful new documentary, O território, released by National Geographic Documentary Films in select theaters on August 19.

Engines roar, blades are sharpened, recoil starters sputter and whine. The opening of Alex Pritz’s Sundance-winning documentary “The Territory” prepares the audience for a real “Chainsaw Massacre,” one that plays out in the Amazon rainforest. But this film is far more terrifying, and galvanizing, than Tobe Hooper’s ‘70s slasher classic.

The film begins in 2018, with an Indigenous community’s struggle to protect what Pritz calls their “island of rainforest surrounded by farms.”

“In the 1980s,” reads an opening title, “the Brazilian government first contacted the Uru-eu-wau-wau people. From a population of thousands fewer than 200 remain.”

Bitaté, a clear-eyed teen activist, is among them, swimming in a tributary, romping with other kids, and working with Neidinha, a middle-aged non-Indigenous activist he refers to as a second mother, to combat a national government that seems hellbent on destroying his home.

Documentaries that set out to tackle complex subjects and narratives in a single feature can be tricky to pull off. While there is often a necessity to condense potentially decades of context to fit within a bounded runtime, history is much broader and more expansive than that. What makes O território such a stunning and standout work is that it never loses sight of this history that is inexorably intertwined with those living with its repercussions now. A debut feature from director Alex Pritz that won multiple awards at the Sundance Film Festival, it is now getting a release from National Geographic in a moment where it remains as painfully and profoundly relevant as ever. It centers on the Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous people and the precarity they face in modern-day Brazil, where the Amazon they have lived in for generations is being decimated. Making matters worse was the election of the far-right nationalist Jair Bolsonaro who has eroded protections for the land and the people that are still living in it.

An opening text scroll in director Alex Pritz’s documentary O território recounts that Brazil’s Uru-eu-wau-wau people were first contacted by the country’s government in the 1980s. A bit over three decades later, as we glean from the film’s embedded point of view on their lives, these native Amazonians have adopted some of the accoutrements of modernity. They ride motorcycles, wear soccer jerseys, and use smartphones to follow Brazil’s 2018 general election, the latter of which resulted in an ongoing disaster for their people following the victory of far-right nationalist Jair Bolsonaro.

The violent claw of colonization continues to raze Indigenous land well into the 21st century, a point made startlingly clear in Alex Pritz’s urgent documentary O território. Though the fight against climate change and genocide has been a lifelong effort amid various Indigenous groups around the globe, this lean, visually striking film focuses on the the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau people, living in a verdant expanse in the Brazilian Amazon that sees its once vast perimeter shrinking exponentially each day.

“Save the rainforest” has been a constant refrain among environmentalist groups for the past half-century, but no recent film captures the immediacy of the threat better than “The Territory,” Alex Pritz’s documentary feature debut, which had its premiere earlier this year at Sundance.

National Geographic Documentary Films acquired the rights to the movie after it screened, and given the distributor’s current interest in gripping thrillers (“Free Solo,” “Fire of Love”), it’s no surprise that this feature, covering the embittered conflict between Brazilian cattle ranchers and an Indigenous group in the Amazon rainforest, fits right into its lineup. But “The Territory” is more than meets the eye, revealing its most profound observations in stages across its running time. The film’s luscious cinematography captures the sun-dappled island of jungle where the Uru Eu Wau Wau reside, a land slowly being consumed by flames as farmers and other settlers illegally raze the forest for pastures, with few repercussions.

De vez em quando, surge um filme que simultaneamente eleva sua raiva e evapora sua esperança, enquanto o leva a acreditar, contra toda a lógica, que talvez, se as pessoas certas vencerem, a inevitabilidade do fim sombrio de nossa espécie ainda possa ser apagado. O apelo urgente e visualmente fascinante de Alex Pritz, “O território”, analisando a luta que está sendo travada pelos invasores grileiros e a pequena tribo indígena Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau no Brasil, sobe a essas alturas. 

Dentro Alex Pritzde “O território” — um documentário feito em estreita colaboração com a minguante tribo Uru-eu-wau-wau do Brasil — a imagem em movimento é verdade, verdade é poder, e pegar uma câmera é um ato de recuperação. Situado na interseção explosiva de tecnologia, política e perseguição indígena, o filme é maravilhosamente e às vezes engenhosamente concebido, pintando um retrato íntimo em primeira mão de alegria, dor e comunidade, antes de explodir com uma intensidade estrondosa ao capturar uma alta -estacas luta pela sobrevivência que se desenrola no momento. Mais do que apenas uma crônica de eventos, no entanto, é também uma declaração ousada sobre as lentes através das quais os povos indígenas são frequentemente trazidos para a tela de prata.

Concentrando-se no que os cineastas chamam de “uma ilha de floresta tropical cercada por fazendas”, O território é um primeiro longa marcante para o diretor de fotografia Alex Pritz, bem como um notável trabalho colaborativo. Seus produtores incluem Darren Aronofsky, e seus sujeitos, os indígenas Uru-eu-wau-wau do Brasil, ajudaram a fazer o filme.

Forças duplas de mudança climática e genocídio cultural se sobrepõem com efeito devastador em “O território”, ameaçando não apenas uma comunidade nativa, mas um ecossistema mais amplo – e aplaudido pelas potências ativamente hostis. Rebitar e desesperador em igual medida, diretor calouro Alex PritzO documentário nos mergulha ao longo de três anos nas vidas, meios de subsistência e terra natal do povo indígena Uru-eu-wau-wau, cujo trecho supostamente protegido da floresta amazônica está sob ataque de todos os lados por agricultores, garimpeiros e colonos que não pensam em desmatar trechos de selva que não lhes pertencem.

O território é um cinema sem medo. Sucesso absoluto no Festival de Cinema de Sundance deste ano, o filme é uma emocionante saga ambiental. É um feito emocionante que vê a arte e o ativismo colidirem. Além disso, este filme deve ser estudado como um exemplo de produção cinematográfica colaborativa engajada. O trabalho árduo e os riscos assumidos são evidentes e pagam dividendos justos neste thriller ecológico urgente sobre a luta da tribo Uru-eu-wau-wau para salvar a Amazônia, um modo de vida e o frágil centro do ecossistema do mundo.