THE LAST FOREST - Where Dreams Collide and Nightmares Escape

In an isolated Yanomami land in the Amazon, the shaman Davi Kopenawa Yanomani tries to keep the spirits of the forest and the traditions alive, while the arrival of gold prospectors brings death and destruction to the community. Young folks are charmed by the goods brought by the white; and Ehuana, who sees her husband disappear, tries to understand what happened in her dreams. Graham Douglas interviews the Luiz Bolognesi, director of 'The Last Forest', who spent many years living with the Patax6 indigenous community in Bahia.

Luiz Bolognesi (Sao Paulo, 1966) is a Brazilian film-maker and anthropologist whose film Bird-watchers won the One World Media Award, and Ex- Shaman Berlinale and won a special jury mention at the Berlinale. His new film The Last Forest, was co-written with David Kopenawa Yanomami, a shaman and spokesman for the Yanomami people. For 25 years he has tirelessly led the long running national and international campaign to secure Yanomami land rights for which he gained recognition around the world.

As the title suggests, the film was made in a context of desperation, in which the Yanomami, are losing their protection from illegal miners, and Brazil has a president set against indigenous rights. Not only is Covid-19 threatening indigenous people, but deforestation is driving infectious agents, which could include Covid, out of the forest and into human communities. Or, as Davi says about white people: 'you are eating your own stomach'.

This interview can be read in full with links and film stills on the Latinolife website, here:

https://www.latinolife.co.uk/articles/last-forest-where-dreams-collide-and-nightmares-escape