The Burning Season (1994 film)

Last updated
The Burning Season
The Burning Season.jpg
GenreBiography
Drama
Based onThe Burning Season
by Andrew Revkin
Screenplay by William Mastrosimone
Michael Tolkin
Ron Hutchinson
Story byWilliam Mastrosimone
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Starring Raul Julia
Carmen Argenziano
Sônia Braga
Kamala Lopez-Dawson
Luis Guzmán
Edward James Olmos
Music by Gary Chang
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producer David Puttnam
ProducersJohn Frankenheimer
Thomas M. Hammel
Grazia Rade
Grazka Taylor
Production location Mexico
Cinematography John R. Leonetti
Editors
Running time123 minutes
Production company HBO Pictures
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseSeptember 16, 1994 (1994-09-16)

The Burning Season is a 1994 American made-for-television biographical drama film directed by John Frankenheimer. The film chronicles environmental activist Chico Mendes' fight to protect the Amazon rainforest. This was Raul Julia's last film released during his lifetime, premiering on HBO on September 16, 1994, five weeks before his death. The film was based in part on the 1990 book of the same name by journalist Andrew Revkin.

Contents

Plot

Chico Mendes was a Brazilian rubber tapper, unionist and environmental activist who was murdered in 1988 by ranchers opposed to his activism. The movie opens in 1951 with a young Mendes witnessing his father's interaction with corrupt ranchers who are exploiting peasants for their work. The bulk of the film then takes place between 1983 and 1988, showing Mendes' activism to preserve the Amazon rainforest, to his murder in a drive-by shooting by a disgruntled rancher waiting in the shadows.

Cast

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
1995
American Cinema Editors Awards Best Edited Motion Picture for Non-Commercial Television Françoise Bonnot
and Paul Rubell
Won [1]
Artios Awards Best Casting for TV Movie of the WeekJunie Lowry-JohnsonNominated [2]
CableACE Awards Movie or Miniseries David Puttnam,
John Frankenheimer,
Thomas M. Hammel,
Diane Batson-Smith,
and Ron Hutchinson
Nominated [3]
Actor in a Movie or Miniseries Raul Julia Won [lower-alpha 1]
Directing a Movie or MiniseriesJohn FrankenheimerWon
Editing a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or MiniseriesFrançoise BonnotNominated
Environmental Media Awards Made for Television MovieWon [4]
Golden Globe Awards Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Won [5]
Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Raul JuliaWon [lower-alpha 1]
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Edward James Olmos Won
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Sônia Braga Nominated
Humanitas Prize PBS/Cable Television William Mastrosimone,
Michael Tolkin, and
Ron Hutchinson
Won [6]
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Made for Television Movie David Puttnam,
John Frankenheimer,
Thomas M. Hammel,
and Diane Batson-Smith
Nominated [7]
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special Raul JuliaWon [lower-alpha 1]
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special Edward James OlmosNominated
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special Sônia BragaNominated
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special John FrankenheimerWon
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries or a Special William Mastrosimone,
Michael Tolkin, and
Ron Hutchinson
Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Raul JuliaWon [lower-alpha 1] [8]

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raul Julia</span> Puerto Rican actor (1940–1994)

Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor. He was known for his intense and varied roles on stage and screen. He started his career in the Public Theatre before transitioning to film. He received numerous accolades including a Drama Desk Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for four Tony Awards. In 2017, The Daily Telegraph named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Kirk</span> American actor

Justin Kirk is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Prior Walter in the HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie, and Andy Botwin in the Showtime dark comedy series Weeds (2005–2012).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chico Mendes</span> Brazilian trade union leader and environmentalist (1944–1988)

Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes, was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and Indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on 22 December 1988. The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, a body under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, is named in his honor.

<i>Deadwood</i> (TV series) American television series (2004–2006)

Deadwood is an American Western television series that aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006. The series is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before and after the area's annexation by the Dakota Territory, and charts Deadwood's growth from camp to town. The show was created, produced, and largely written by David Milch. Deadwood features a large ensemble cast headed by Timothy Olyphant and Ian McShane, playing the real-life Deadwood residents Seth Bullock and Al Swearengen, respectively. Many other historical figures appear as characters, including George Crook, Wyatt Earp, E. B. Farnum, George Hearst, Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Sol Star, A. W. Merrick, Jack McCall, and Charlie Utter. The plot lines involving these characters include historical truths as well as substantial fictional elements. Milch used actual diaries and newspapers from 1870s Deadwood residents as reference points for characters, events, and the look and feel of the show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Hale</span> American actor (born 1970)

Anthony Russell Hale is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series Arrested Development as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy Veep from 2012 until its conclusion in 2019, for which he won the 2013 and 2015 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kathleen Quinlan</span> American actress (born 1954)

Kathleen Denise Quinlan is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in the 1977 film of the novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, and her Golden Globe and Academy Award-nominated role in the 1995 film Apollo 13, along with many roles in other feature films, television movies and series, in a career spanning almost five decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Conroy</span> American actress

Frances Hardman Conroy is an American actress. She is best known for playing Ruth Fisher on the television series Six Feet Under (2001–2005), for which she won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and received four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She is also known for playing the older version of Moira O'Hara in season one of the television anthology series American Horror Story, which garnered Conroy her first Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television nomination, and as well a Primetime Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. Conroy subsequently portrayed The Angel of Death, Myrtle Snow, Gloria Mott, Mama Polk, Bebe Babbitt, and Belle Noir on seven further seasons of the show: Asylum, Coven, Freak Show, Roanoke, Cult, Apocalypse, and Double Feature, respectively. Conroy is the fourth actor who has appeared in most seasons of the show. For her performance in Coven, she was nominated again for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Ryan</span> American actress (born 1968)

Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski, known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress of stage and screen. A graduate of New York's High School of Performing Arts, she is an Academy Award nominee and three-time Tony Award nominee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">D. B. Weiss</span> American writer and producer

Daniel Brett Weiss is an American television writer and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known for co-creating Game of Thrones (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin's series of books A Song of Ice and Fire.

William James Smith is an English stand-up comedian, screenwriter, novelist, actor and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Pinheiro</span>

Wilson Pinheiro was the president of the Brasiléia Rural Workers Union in the State of Acre in Brazil. He helped lead the fight against ranchers who were destroying the Amazon rainforest. Pinheiro was committed to defend the Amazon and was assassinated on July 21, 1980. He was a colleague of Chico Mendes, the president of the Xapuri Rural Workers Union, who similarly lost his life defending the Amazon.

<i>Treme</i> (TV series) American drama television series

Treme is an American drama television series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that aired on HBO. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, and concluded on December 29, 2013, comprising four seasons and 36 episodes. The series features an ensemble cast including Khandi Alexander, Rob Brown, Chris Coy, Kim Dickens, India Ennenga, John Goodman, Michiel Huisman, Melissa Leo, Lucia Micarelli, David Morse, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Jon Seda, and Steve Zahn, as well as musical performances by a number of New Orleans-based artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Revkin</span> American journalist and author

Andrew C. Revkin is an American science and environmental journalist, author and educator. He has written on a wide range of subjects including destruction of the Amazon rain forest, the 2004 Asian tsunami, sustainable development, climate change, and the changing environment around the North Pole. From 2019 to 2023 he directed fthe Initiative on Communication and Sustainability at The Earth Institute of Columbia University.

The Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Comedy Series is an award presented by the Writers Guild of America to the writers of the best television comedy series of the season. It has been awarded since the 58th Annual Writers Guild of America Awards in 2006. The year indicates when each season aired.

José Cláudio Ribeiro da Silva was a Brazilian conservationist and environmentalist who campaigned against logging and clearcutting of trees in the Amazon rainforest.

<i>Deadwood: The Movie</i> 2019 TV film

Deadwood: The Movie is a 2019 American Western television film directed by Daniel Minahan and written by David Milch for HBO. It is a continuation of the television series of the same name, which was created by Milch and ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2006. The film reunites the majority of the large ensemble cast, including Timothy Olyphant, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Paula Malcomson, John Hawkes, and Gerald McRaney, and premiered on May 31, 2019.

The Manicoré Biological Reserve is a biological reserve in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. It fully protects an intact area of the Amazon rainforest that is rich in biodiversity, and serves as part of a shield against the advance of the arc of deforestation.

References

  1. "Nominees/Winners". IMDb . Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  2. "1995 Artios Awards". Casting Society of America. October 11, 1995. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  3. Margulies, Lee (September 20, 1995). "HBO Leads the Pack With 89 CableACE Nominations: Television: Nods for 'Larry Sanders,' 'Dream On' push network ahead of Showtime, which garners 36". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 6, 2015.
  4. "EMA Awards – Past Recipients & Honorees". Environmental Media Awards . Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  5. "The Burning Season". Golden Globe Awards . Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  6. "Past Winners & Nominees". Humanitas Prize . Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  7. "The Burning Season". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences . Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  8. "The Inaugural Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards . Retrieved March 10, 2023.