‘The Territory’ Review: Indigenous People Fight Encroaching Deforestation In An Engrossing Doc Portrait
“I consider this land mine,” a Brazilian man, identified by onscreen text as a “settler,” informs the camera at one point during “The Territory.” The land in question is a section of the Amazon rainforest in the state of Rondônia, encircled by modern development, which is, in fact, the homeland and protected territory of the Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau Indigenous people. Whether or not such legally recognized sovereignty is, in Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil, any match for white vibes is the subject of director Alex Pritz’s first feature, which won an Audience Award and a Jury prize at this January’s Sundance and is an issue-driven documentary gratifyingly interested in action as much as advocacy.