Birdwatchers (2008)

When a tribe of indigenous Guarani Indians attempts to re-inhabit their ancestral land, which lies on the border of a wealthy landowner's fields, tensions escalate.

Director:

Marco Bechis

Writers:

Marco Bechis, Luiz Bolognesi

Stars:

Claudio Santamaria, Alicélia Batista Cabreira, Chiara Caselli

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Claudio Santamaria	...	Roberto
Alicélia Batista Cabreira	...	Lia
Chiara Caselli	...	Beatrice
Pedro Abrísio da Silva	...	Osvaldo
Matheus Nachtergaele	...	Dimas
Ambrósio Vilhava	...	Nádio
Ademilson Concianza Verga	...	Irineu
Leonardo Medeiros	...	Moreira - the farmer
Eliane Juca da Silva	...	Mami
Fabiane Pereira da Silva	...	Maria
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Taiane Arce	...	Kinha
César Chedid	...	Farmer
Temily Comar	...	Maria's friend
Nelson Concianza	...	Nhanderu
Luciane da Silva	...	Rosália

Storyline

A boat with tourists is sailing up the river through the jungle. Suddenly they come face-to-face with Indians, naked apart from their paint, with self-made weapons at the ready. The tourists sail on excitedly. The Indians put on their jeans and collect their daily wages. The Guarani, one of Brazil's oldest Indian communities, are forced to live in a reservation. A small group of Guarani decide to leave the reservation and settle in a traditional territory that has belonged to white men for several generations. The clash between two conflicting cultures is conceived as a suspense story with mystical elements. The actors are real Indians with no actor training.

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Plot Keywords:

native american culture | indigenous peoples in brazil | reservation | brazil | nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Indian characters truly belong to the Indian tribe of Brasilia Guaraní-Kaiowá and the story describes how these people really suffer in our days.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Osvaldo: I won, you lost!

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Soundtracks

Sacris solemnis
Composed by Domenico Zipoli
Performed by Coro de niños cantores de Córdoba, Affetti Musicali (Buenos Aires) and Ensemble Elyma
Conducted by Gabriel Garrido
Published by K617

User Reviews

Out of customary commonplace

A dull first time, poor dialogues, ordinary plot and mediocre casting make this movie a second-rate title; by the way I appreciated it for a skill: director Marco Bechis is good not to take sides in the argument setting against two positions and showing all the troubles and the motivations which each delegate of the two sects argues. Unfortunately all this is not enough to make a title interesting. I think if you have not read something about the plot before watching maybe you can't understand what the title is dealing with, to the contrary understanding it at the last ten minutes doesn't permit to consider it a movie to see. Finally a consideration about Indians: this is not a movie in which they kill, massacre, slaughter everybody: they are represented like a civil folk, with their difficulties and their daily feelings: it's out of customary cliché of wild Indians!

Details

Official Sites:

Classic [Italy] Océan Films [France]

Country:

Italy Brazil

Language:

Portuguese Guarani English

Release Date:

28 November 2008 (Brazil)

Also Known As:

Birdwatchers

Filming Locations:

Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$830,867

Company Credits

Production Co:

Classic, Rai Cinema, Karta Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1