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BIRDWATCHERS

by Marco Bechis

synopsis

Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil), today. The fazenderos are leading their wealthy life in boredom. They have transgenic plantations that stretch as far as the eye can see and spend their evenings in the company of the Birdwatchers, tourists who have come to watch the birds. On the borders of their land, the malaise of the Indians is growing. Forced to live in reservations, the natives – the legitimate inhabitants of that land – lead a life with absolutely no future whatsoever; many of them, the young in particular, commit suicide. It is another suicide that sparks off the rebellion. Following the guidance of the leader Nadio and a shaman, a group of Indians sets up camp outside one of the properties to demand the restitution of their land. Two conflicting worlds thus confront one another. The metaphoric confrontation soon turns into a real conflict but, even during the hostilities, the two worlds do not stop studying one another. The young people in particular do not stop being curious “about the other”, not even during the fighting. It is this very curiosity that will give way to a profound relationship between Osvaldo, a young shaman apprentice and the daughter of a fazendero.

international title: BirdWatchers
original title: BirdWatchers – La terra degli uomini rossi
country: Italy, Brazil
year: 2008
genre: fiction
directed by: Marco Bechis
film run: 108'
release date: FR 17/12/2008, BE 04/03/2009, SE 03/04/2009, NL 16/04/2009, CH 30/04/2009, NO 19/06/2009, DE 16/07/2009
screenplay: Marco Bechis, Louis Bolognesi, Lara Fremder
cast: Claudio Santamaria, Chiara Caselli, Abrisio da Silva Pedro, Ambrosio Vilhalva, Ademilson Concianza Verga, Mateus Nachtergaele, Alicelia Batista Cabreira
cinematography by: Helcio Alemao Nagamine
film editing: Jacopo Quadri
art director: Caterina Giargia, Valeria Stefani, Clovis Bueno
costumes designer: Caterina Giargia
producer: Amedeo Pagani, Marco Bechis, Fabiano Gullane
production: Classic Srl, RAI Cinema, Karta Film, Gullane Filmes
backing: Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali (MiBAC)
distributor: Océan Films, ABC distribution (BE), Folkets Bio (SE), Cinemien Film & Video Distribution (NL), Pandora (DE), trigon-film (CH)

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