‘The Falling Sky - Eryk Rocha & Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha’

The screening on 29th of May will be preceded by an introduction by director Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha and will be followed by a Q&A.

In The Falling Sky, we follow Davi Kopenawa, shaman and leader of the Yanomami people in Brazil, known for his book advocating for native rights and the preservation of the Amazon. The film explores the Yanomami's Reahu burial rite, symbolizing their effort to hold up the sky. It sharply critiques illegal gold mining and the harm caused by outsiders, or "xawara," responsible for epidemics and exploitation. This powerful documentary highlights the suffering of the Yanomami and Watoriki due to neo-colonial practices.

Eryk Rocha, born in Brazil in 1978, graduated in Los Baños, Cuba. In his extensive filmography, highlights are his first film Stones in the Sky (2002) about Glauber Rocha, Cinema Novo (2016) (L’Oeil d’or for Best Documentary at Cannes) and his previous film Edna (2021) which received several awards and presence at renowned festivals.

Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha is a Brazilian theater director, filmmaker, researcher and environmental artistic activist. Her work has been presented at Wiener Festwochen, Festival d'Automne and Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. It's her first film as director.