On October 11, the Brazil LAB was pleased to organize a closed session for the screening of Amazonia Inc., a documentary by Brazilian filmmaker Estevão Ciavatta. In the context of intensifying deforestation of a vast unprotected zone of the Amazon forest in Brazil, the film chronicles efforts by forest peoples – the ‘anonymous’ and forgotten societies of the Amazon – to organize themselves, form legal entities, and confront the invasion of their territories by logging corporations. The screening was followed by a discussion with Ciavatta, moderated by Eduardo Cadava (English, Princeton), Fazal Sheikh (photographer and visiting professor in the Environment and Humanities), and Brazilian environmentalist Beto Verissimo. In the lively Q&A, the audience asked about the role of foreign entities such as China in deforestation, the work around rights of nature, and emerging solidarities among different social movements within Brazil and internationally. The event was co-sponsored by the Council of the Humanities, the Princeton Environmental Institute, the Program in Latin American Studies, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Department of Anthropology, and the Lewis Center for the Arts.

Photos by Daiane Tamanaha