The Territory (2022 film)

Last updated
The Territory
The Territory (2022 film).jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlex Pritz
Produced by
  • Alex Pritz
  • Darren Aronofsky
  • Sigrid Dyekjaer
  • Will N. Miller
  • Gabriel Uchida
  • Lizzie Gillett
Cinematography
  • Alex Pritz
  • Tangai Uru-eu-wau-wau
Edited byCarlos Rojas Felice
Music byKatya Mihailova
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 22, 2022 (2022-01-22)(Sundance)
  • August 19, 2022 (2022-08-19)(United States)
Running time
86 minutes [1]
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Brazil
  • Denmark
Languages
  • Portuguese
  • Tupi-Kawahiva
Box office$70,093 [2] [3]

The Territory is a 2022 internationally co-produced documentary film directed by Alex Pritz. It follows a young Indigenous leader of the Uru-eu-wau-wau people fighting back against farmers, colonizers and settlers who encroach on a protected area of the Amazon Rainforest. Filmed on location in Brazil from 2018 to 2020, the film utilizes almost exclusively on-the-ground, primary source material, including footage produced directly by the Uru-eu-wau-wau. Darren Aronofsky serves as a producer under his Protozoa Pictures banner.

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022. It was released in select cities in the United States and Canada on August 19, 2022, by National Geographic Documentary Films and Picturehouse. It was shortlisted for the 95th Academy Awards in the Best Documentary Feature category, [4] and won Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking at the 75th Emmy Awards. The film received critical acclaim for its cinematography and for the authentic portrayal of rising tensions between Indigenous peoples and settlers in contemporary Brazil.

Synopsis

The film focuses on the Uru-eu-wau-wau, an Amazonian tribe only contacted by the Brazilian government in 1980. Originally numbering in the thousands, the tribe is presented as just 200 strong at the film's outset. Bitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau is introduced as an 18-year-old who, despite his youth, is selected as leader of Uru-eu-wau-wau in order to coordinate their protection in the face of encroaching settlers who deploy slash-and-burn tactics to establish frontier settlements. Neidinha Bandeira, an environmental and human rights activist, is the other central cast member, working tirelessly to protect Uru-eu-wau-wau land and present their story to journalists and politicians. White seizure of Indigenous land is presented as a quasi-legal movement, tacitly encouraged after the election of reactionary populist Jair Bolsonaro.

The film interweaves vérité footage of settlers themselves who, though chauvinistic, also have genuine faith in their entitlement to Amazonian land. The threat of violence hangs over the film's action. Bandeira faces near-constant death threats and the tribe deals frankly with the threat of elimination. The murder of Ari Uru-eu-wau-wau, a 33-year-old tribal leader beloved by the Uru-eu-wau-wau, is presented around the film's mid-point; the primary coordinator of tribal patrols, Ari is found murdered on a roadside with his death unsolved at the film's conclusion. The Uru-eu-wau-wau are also hit hard by COVID-19, losing 5% of their already tiny numbers.

The film's last act presents Bitaté taking up Ari's patrol leadership, teaching drone and film technology to tribe members in order to document settler intrusion and monitor territory boundaries. The tribe implements a de facto police apparatus, arresting individual settlers and destroying their out-buildings and implements. Bandeira continues her steadfast advocacy and organizing despite being deeply shaken by Ari's murder. The tribe's position is presented as resolute but extremely precarious at the film's end, with a concluding crawl noting that the Amazon clearance, the invasion of indigenous land and the appropriation of resources continues to accelerate under the Bolsonaro administration.

Release and reception

The film had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2022. [5] [1] Shortly after, National Geographic Documentary Films acquired distribution rights to the film. [6] It was released in the United States on August 19, 2022. [7] The Territory received positive reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 97% approval rating based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Visually striking, formally refreshing, and ultimately enraging, The Territory is a powerful advocacy documentary with the heart of a thriller." [8] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 83 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [9]

Critics acknowledge that The Territory is an advocacy film rather than a strictly disinterested documentary. The New York Times notes in its review that Indigenous people and settlers "are given near-equal amounts of screen time" but that "Pritz does not draw a false equivalency between the two; in fact, the longer time is spent with the farmers, the more alarming their gap of understanding toward the Uru Eu Wau Wau becomes." [10] The sense of intimacy created by immediate, personal portraits of conflicting perspectives is praised across reviews, heightened by striking visuals and sound design. [11] The LA Times calls the film a "a gripping portrait of an endangered community." [12] A more critical review at RogerEbert.com acknowledges the cinematography but suggests that the hero-villain narrative risks simplicity and becomes monotous. [13]

Accolades

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryRecipient(s)ResultRef.
Cinema Eye Honors January 12, 2023 Outstanding Non-Fiction FeatureAlex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Gabriel Uchida, Sigrid Dyekjær, Lizzie Gillett, and Will N. MillerNominated [14]
[15]
Outstanding ProductionAlex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Gabriel Uchida, Sigrid Dyekjær, Lizzie Gillett, and Will N. MillerNominated
Outstanding CinematographyAlex Pritz and Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wauNominated
Outstanding Original ScoreKatya MihailovaNominated
Outstanding Sound DesignRune Klausen and Peter AlbrechtsenNominated
Outstanding DebutAlex PritzWon
Audience Choice PrizeThe TerritoryNominated
The UnforgettablesBitaté Uru-eu-wau-wau and Neidinha BandeiraWon
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival March 23 – April 3, 2022F:act Award – Special MentionThe TerritoryWon [16]
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards November 13, 2022 Best First Documentary Feature Alex PritzNominated [17]
[18]
Best Science/Nature DocumentaryThe TerritoryNominated
Best CinematographyAlex Pritz and Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wauNominated
Dublin Film Critics Circle AwardsDecember 15, 2022Best DocumentaryThe Territory9th place [19]
[20]
Golden Reel Awards February 26, 2023 Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Documentary Rune Klausen, Peter Albrechtsen, Mikkel Nielsen, Tim Nielsen, Sebastian Vaskio, Guilherme Tortolo Magrin, Pietu Korhonen, and Heikki KossiNominated [21]
Golden Trailer Awards June 29, 2023Best Documentary TV Spot (for a Feature Film)The Territory (ZEALOT)Nominated [22]
Best Original Score TV Spot (for a Feature Film)Nominated
Gotham Awards November 28, 2022 Best Documentary The TerritoryNominated [23]
International Wildlife Film Festival April 23–30, 2022Best of Festival AwardWon [24]
[25]
Best Sustainable Planet CategoryWon
Mountainfilm May 30, 2022Moving Mountains AwardWon [26]
Peabody Awards June 11, 2023 DocumentaryWon [27]
Primetime Emmy Awards January 7–8, 2024 Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking Alex Pritz, Darren Aronofsky, Sigrid Dyekjær, Will N. Miller, Gabriel Uchida, Lizzie Gillett, and Txai Suruí Won [28]
Outstanding Directing For A Documentary/Nonfiction Program Alex PritzNominated
Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction Program Alex Pritz and Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-waNominated
Producers Guild of America Awards February 25, 2023 Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures Sigrid Dyekjaer, Will Miller, Lizzie Gillett, Darren Aronofsky, Gabriel Uchida, and Alex PritzNominated [29]
[30]
Provincetown International Film Festival June 15–19, 2022John Schlesinger Documentary AwardAlex PritzWon [31]
[32]
Satellite Awards March 3, 2023 Best Motion Picture – Documentary The TerritoryNominated [33]
[34]
[35]
Seattle International Film Festival April 24, 2022Golden Space Needle Award – Best DocumentaryWon [36]
Sheffield DocFest June 23–28, 2022Tim Hetherington Award – Special MentionWon [37]
Sundance Film Festival January 20–30, 2022 World Cinema Documentary – Audience AwardWon [38]
[39]
World Cinema Documentary – Special Jury Award for Documentary CraftWon
Zurich Film Festival October 1, 2022Science Film AwardWon [40]

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References

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  2. ↑ "The Territory". Box Office Mojo . Archived from the original on August 21, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ "The Territory (2022)". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  4. ↑ Sciences, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and. "95th Oscars Shortlists Announced for 10 Categories". A.frame. Archived from the original on 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  5. ↑ Lang, Brent (December 9, 2021). "Sundance Unveils 2022 Feature Lineup, Including Films from Lena Dunham, Amy Poehler and Netflix's Kanye West Doc". Variety . Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  6. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (January 23, 2022). "National Geographic Docu Films Acquires Sundance Film The Territory". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on February 1, 2022. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  7. ↑ "40 Films to See this Summer". The Film Stage . April 27, 2022. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  8. ↑ "The Territory". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  9. ↑ "The Territory Reviews". Metacritic . Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2022.
  10. ↑ Shaffer, Claire (August 18, 2022). "The Territory Review: Saving the Amazon, One Camera at a Time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  11. ↑ Linden, Sheri (January 28, 2022). "The Territory: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  12. ↑ Abele, Robert (August 18, 2022). "Review: Indigenous people turn to technology to save their Amazon home in The Territory". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  13. ↑ Allen, Nick (August 19, 2022). "The Territory". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2022. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  14. ↑ MacCary, Julia; Shafer, Ellise (January 12, 2023). "All That Breathes, Fire of Love Lead Cinema Eye Honors". Variety. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ Jones, Marcus (November 10, 2022). "Fire of Love and The Territory Lead 2023 Cinema Eye Honors Nonfiction Film Nominees". IndieWire . Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  16. ↑ Dalton, Ben (April 1, 2022). "CPH:DOX reveals 2022 competition, industry winners". Screen Daily. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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  19. ↑ Clarke, Donald (December 15, 2022). "An Cailín Ciúin named film of the year by Dublin Film Critics' Circle". The Irish Times . Archived from the original on December 15, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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  24. ↑ "2022 Winners". International Wildlife Film Festival . Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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  26. ↑ "Mountainfilm awards". Telluride Daily Planet . June 7, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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  28. ↑ "The Territory". Television Academy. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Producers Guild of America Awards Celebrates Everything Everywhere All At Once, White Lotus, The Bear, Navalny & more with Top Honors" (Press release). Los Angeles: Producers Guild of America. February 25, 2023. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  30. ↑ Carey, Matthew (December 12, 2022). "PGA Awards Documentary Nominations Bring Shocks and Surprises: Nothing Compares In, All The Beauty And The Bloodshed Out". Deadline. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Provincetown International Film Festival Announces 2022 Winners – PIFF Receives Oscar-Qualifying Status". Provincetown Film. June 19, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  32. ↑ Sippell, Margeaux (June 20, 2022). "Provincetown International Film Festival Announces 2022 Award Winners". MovieMaker Magazine. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  33. ↑ "2022 Nominees". International Press Academy. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  34. ↑ "IPA Reveals Nominations for the 27th Satellite Awards". International Press Academy. December 8, 2022. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  35. ↑ "The International Press Academy Announces Winners for the 27th Annual Satellite Awards". International Press Academy. March 3, 2023. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  36. ↑ Murphy, J. Kim (April 24, 2022). "Seattle International Film Festival Awards Top Honors to Klondike, Know Your Place". Variety. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  37. ↑ Ramachandran, J. Naman (June 29, 2022). "Sansón and Me, Master of Light Win Sheffield Doc/Fest". Variety. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  38. ↑ Debruge, Peter (January 28, 2022). "Sundance 2022 Winners: From Nanny and Navalny to Crowd-Pleaser Cha Cha Real Smooth, Indie Fest Spreads the Wealth". Variety. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  39. ↑ "2022 Sundance Film Festival Awards Announced". Sundance Institute . January 28, 2022. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  40. ↑ "The Golden Eyes of the 18th ZFF Go to Films from Switzerland, from Colombia and from the USA". Zurich Film Festival . October 1, 2022. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
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