Documentary backdrop image for Amazonia (2022)

202234 minPGdocumentary

Indigenous Histories Deforestation Biodiversity

Amazonia

202234 minPGdocumentary

Juarez and the Munduruku people face existential threats to their language and culture due to the construction of a hydroelectric power station in the Amazon basin.

Indigenous Histories Deforestation Biodiversity

Genres

Channel: ARTE.tv Documentary

Amazonia

2022• 34 minPG

Synopsis

Juarez and the Munduruku people face existential threats to their language and culture due to the construction of a hydroelectric power station in the Amazon basin.

Synopsis

In the Amazon basin, the Munduruku people maintain a traditional lifestyle as hunter-gatherers, living in harmony with their environment. However, the construction of a hydroelectric power station poses a significant threat to their language, culture, and way of life. The situation highlights the broader implications of industrial development on indigenous communities and the delicate balance between progress and preservation. This documentary examines the challenges faced by the Munduruku as they strive to protect their heritage amidst external pressures.

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

The Amazon, Brazil - Threatened (2025)

The Amazon, Brazil - Threatened

In the Amazon, indigenous communities face violence and intimidation from illegal loggers and prospectors, with environmental activists often targeted for their resistance.

The Amazon, Brazil - Threatened

The Unconquered: Brazil's People of the Arrow (2012)

The Unconquered: Brazil's People of the Arrow

Sydney Poell undertakes an open-ended expedition into the Amazon to track the uncontacted Fados tribe, known as the Arrow People.

The Unconquered: Brazil's People of the Arrow

Ancient Builders of the Amazon (2023)

Ancient Builders of the Amazon

The Amazon covers about two-and-a-half million square miles, yet recent discoveries reveal it was home to complex civilizations and advanced agricultural systems.

Ancient Builders of the Amazon

Is Musk's Starlink a threat to the Amazon? (2025)

Is Musk's Starlink a threat to the Amazon?

In the Amazon's Javari Valley, Elon Musk's Starlink technology is reshaping the lives of isolated tribes, sparking debate over cultural preservation and modernization.

Is Musk's Starlink a threat to the Amazon?

Blood Warriors (2020)

Blood Warriors

Ten days of training with the Samburu tribe culminate in a challenging cattle drive through one of the most inhospitable regions of Kenya.

Congo: The tribe under threat (2019)

Congo: The tribe under threat

In the Congo, the Baka tribe faces threats and intimidation from park guards funded by the World Wildlife Fund as they struggle to access their traditional hunting grounds.

Congo: The tribe under threat

The Amazon in danger - Indigenous peoples and their struggle for the rainforest (2022)

The Amazon in danger - Indigenous peoples and their struggle for the rainforest

The Munduruku fight against deforestation in the Amazon under Chief Juarez Saw Munduruku's leadership.

The Amazon in danger - Indigenous peoples and their struggle for the rainforest

How Brazil is Fighting Against Bolsonaro's Policies (2022)

How Brazil is Fighting Against Bolsonaro's Policies

More than 87,000 fires were recorded in the Amazon in the first eight months of 2019, a 76% increase from the previous year.

How Brazil is Fighting Against Bolsonaro's Policies

Saving Amazonia - Part 2: Indigenous Internet Warriors (2021)

Saving Amazonia - Part 2: Indigenous Internet Warriors

In the Brazilian rainforest, the Ashaninka people, led by Benki and Moises Piyako, utilize the Internet to combat illegal logging and promote environmental sustainability.

Saving Amazonia - Part 2: Indigenous Internet Warriors

Discover Giant Fish & Mysterious Underwater Caves (2024)

Discover Giant Fish & Mysterious Underwater Caves

Tens of thousands of Australian giant cuttlefish aggregate to spawn in the waters of South Australia between May and August.

Discover Giant Fish & Mysterious Underwater Caves

Wildlife - Just Insects (2023)

Wildlife - Just Insects

Earth hosts an estimated 1.4 billion insects for every human, showcasing their remarkable strength, endurance, and unique adaptations in diverse environments.

Wildlife - Just Insects

The Ancient Mayans: How Did Such An Advanced Society Collapse? | Archaeology (2022)

The Ancient Mayans: How Did Such An Advanced Society Collapse? | Archaeology

Ancient Mayan civilization, once governed by astronomer-priests, is examined through the lens of Yuri Knorosov's breakthrough in deciphering their hieroglyphic writing.

The Ancient Mayans: How Did Such An Advanced Society Collapse? | Archaeology

Explore Amazonia

Where else to watch

Piripkura (2018)

Piripkura

2018•1h22m•★8.0TMDB

A torch lit in 1998 continues to burn as the last two members of the Piripkura tribe fight to preserve their way of life amid deforestation.

The Territory (2022)

The Territory

2022•1h25m•★6.8TMDB

5% of the Uru-eu-wau-wau population died from COVID-19 as they faced ongoing threats from settlers encroaching on their Amazon rainforest territory.

The Hyperwomen (2011)

The Hyperwomen

2011•1h20m•★6.5TMDB

A vibrant festival in the Upper Xingu features women singing and dancing as the Kuikuro community faces a crisis when an elder falls seriously ill.

The Invention of the Other (2022)

The Invention of the Other

2022•2h25m•★8.0TMDB

A 145-minute expedition into the Amazon rainforest aims to connect with isolated indigenous people facing severe vulnerability.

The Invention of the Other

Trinkets and Beads (1996)

Trinkets and Beads

1996•52m•★6.0TMDB

American missionaries and a Texas oil company threaten the Huaorani people's way of life in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest.

Trinkets and Beads

Dirty Paradise (2009)

Dirty Paradise

2009•1h16m•★6.0TMDB

Severe ecological degradation in a gold-rich region threatens the Wayana people's survival and leads to pollution of streams and forest ecosystems.

Browse more like this

The Amazon, Brazil - Threatened (2025)

The Amazon, Brazil - Threatened

In the Amazon, indigenous communities face violence and intimidation from illegal loggers and prospectors, with environmental activists often targeted for their resistance.

The Amazon, Brazil - Threatened

No digital watch option in your country

The Unconquered: Brazil's People of the Arrow (2012)

The Unconquered: Brazil's People of the Arrow

Sydney Poell undertakes an open-ended expedition into the Amazon to track the uncontacted Fados tribe, known as the Arrow People.

The Unconquered: Brazil's People of the Arrow

No digital watch option in your country

Ancient Builders of the Amazon (2023)

Ancient Builders of the Amazon

The Amazon covers about two-and-a-half million square miles, yet recent discoveries reveal it was home to complex civilizations and advanced agricultural systems.

Ancient Builders of the Amazon

No digital watch option in your country

Blood Warriors (2020)

Blood Warriors

Ten days of training with the Samburu tribe culminate in a challenging cattle drive through one of the most inhospitable regions of Kenya.

No digital watch option in your country

Saving Amazonia - Part 2: Indigenous Internet Warriors (2021)

Saving Amazonia - Part 2: Indigenous Internet Warriors

In the Brazilian rainforest, the Ashaninka people, led by Benki and Moises Piyako, utilize the Internet to combat illegal logging and promote environmental sustainability.

Saving Amazonia - Part 2: Indigenous Internet Warriors

No digital watch option in your country

Wildlife - Just Insects (2023)

Wildlife - Just Insects

Earth hosts an estimated 1.4 billion insects for every human, showcasing their remarkable strength, endurance, and unique adaptations in diverse environments.

Wildlife - Just Insects

No digital watch option in your country

The Ancient Mayans: How Did Such An Advanced Society Collapse? | Archaeology (2022)

The Ancient Mayans: How Did Such An Advanced Society Collapse? | Archaeology

Ancient Mayan civilization, once governed by astronomer-priests, is examined through the lens of Yuri Knorosov's breakthrough in deciphering their hieroglyphic writing.

The Ancient Mayans: How Did Such An Advanced Society Collapse? | Archaeology

No digital watch option in your country

Tukum (2025)

Tukum

2025•20m•★10.0TMDB

In the Atlantic Forest, the Tupinambá people strive to protect their sacred territory from mining and real estate development while preserving their cultural heritage.

Amazon Mirror (2022)

Amazon Mirror

2022•1h19m•★10.0TMDB

In Amazonia, residents near the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant face daily challenges of limited electricity and infrastructure amid significant environmental changes.

Amazon Voices (2015)

Amazon Voices

2015•53m•★6.0TMDB

Indigenous communities in Ecuador confront the extensive social, cultural, and environmental damage caused by oil extraction activities in their regions.

Pantanal: The Waters of Life (1997)

Pantanal: The Waters of Life

1997•56m•★9.0TMDB

Forty million people rely on the rivers of the Rio de la Plata basin, which face disruption from the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway Project.

Pantanal: The Waters of Life

Des nouvelles du Nord (2007)

Des nouvelles du Nord

More than 1,000 kilometers northwest of Montreal, the James Bay project transformed the lives of residents in Radisson and Chisasibi in the 1970s.

Des nouvelles du Nord

Europe's Last Wilderness (2017)

Europe's Last Wilderness

2017•44m•★10.0TMDB

Svalbard's Arctic tundra and the Mediterranean coasts of Italy and Greece illustrate Europe's varied climates and habitats while detailing World Wildlife Fund conservation efforts.

Europe's Last Wilderness

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →