Documentary “The forest you don’t see – Narratives of the Middle Xingu” wins premiere event

On August 24, Synergia held the launch event for the documentary “ The forest you don’t see – Narratives of the Middle Xingu ”, a co-production with Dot Films and support from ICMBio. 

The documentary weaves together the stories of struggle and resistance of people who live in the Middle Xingu region and face mining, logging, livestock and monoculture, to generate income and keep the Amazon Forest standing . 

These people feel part of the forest and defend ways of life that, adapted to the new realities, harbor precious knowledge and knowledge for the care of the forest , combined with the development of the bioeconomy .  

Production was based on the Projeto Redes do Médio Xingu , an initiative to support the cocoa production chain , which positively impacts the income generation of families at the Terra do Meio Ecological Station, supporting the Terra do Meio Network , in order to promote a commercial structure to serve the local population, and assistance to the Sementes da Floresta Agroextractivist Association (AASFLOR) , located in Uruará. 

Mario Vasconcellos, project coordinator, talks about the importance of establishing dialogues about the Amazon and how to engage those who are not in the region: “Just talking about the Amazon already has immense value, because we bring the reality of the Amazon closer to people’s lives from here in São Paulo”. Thus, the documentary “The forest you don’t see – Narratives from the Middle Xingu” has had the function of connecting people to the Amazon. 

Valuing local knowledge is the key to moving the bioeconomy 

After the documentary was shown, a conversation with Eduardo Rocha , manager of engagement at the Parceiros pela Amazônia (PPA) initiative , and Virginia Antonioli , project manager at Instituto Escolhas , was mediated by Mario Vasconcellos. 

During the circle, the participants spoke with the audience about the importance of respecting the culture , customs, knowledge and way of life of the people who live in the Amazon and keep the forest standing. 

Eduardo Ramos, from PPA, highlighted the challenges to support and implement initiatives in the Amazon: “During the history of occupation and relationship, we found very different contexts of development of territories, from large enterprises to reserves, so it is important to understand the dynamics of the territory associated with the diversity”. 

When analyzing the importance of supporting the local bioeconomy, Virginia Antonioli pointed out the existence of public resources that help in the development of the country and that can contribute to the Amazon region. In addition, he highlighted that everyone, as agents of transformation, can also collaborate: “We have the possibility of mapping bottlenecks , co-designing solutions, addressing who this is by right and not forgetting that we have a State that is present and that must be charged”. 

In this way, the speakers reinforced that factors such as regional understanding , listening to local people and supporting the development of the Amazon region are essential to generate income and conserve the forest . 

The forest you don’t see – Narrativas do Médio Xingu is a portrait of the work of Amazonian families 

The documentary “The forest you don’t see – Narratives of the Middle Xingu” is already part of the semifinalists selected for the Angeles Doc festival , in the short documentary category. 

By reaching the world’s screens, the documentary fulfills the legacy of contributing in a more structured way to the development of communities . For Maria Albuquerque , founder and CEO of Synergia, the joint work of entities can be the key to local advancement: “The Amazon is gigantic and nobody does anything alone in the Amazon, nobody can do something relevant, durable and sustainable if they don’t have the support from partners such as communities, governments with effective public policies and other companies. The joining of forces is fundamental for any action that wants to transform the territory”. 

Thus, among the objectives of the documentary are the strengthening of the Middle Xingu Networks Project and the expansion of dialogue with local communities. “’I hope these families recognize themselves in the documentary, which has the role of giving visibility to the dream and work of these families’, says Maria. 

The national premiere of the documentary takes place on Amazon Day : September 5th, at 8 pm, on YouTube by Synergia Socioambiental . 

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