FILMAKERS LIBRARY
Anthropology
At The Edge Of Conquest: The Journey of Chief Wai-Wai
Produced by Geoffrey O'Connor, Realis Pictures, Inc.
Academy Award Nominee, 1993
- "This provocative, valuable film, sympathetic to the natives, is
technically excellent and pedagogically recommended for general audiences
and students from seventh grade to college." - Science Books & Films
At
the Edge of Conquest looks at the situation of the Waiapi Indians, a small,
isolated tribe that came in contact with the outside world in the late 1970's.
Today they are threatened by invading gold miners, by the Brazilian government's
recent proposal to reduce their land by 10%, and the state government's plan
to construct a highway directly through their territory. But their strategy
for survival has been effective: defend their lands from invasions while their
leaders navigate the tricky waters of Brazilian politics.
The film focuses on the charismatic leader, Chief Wai-Wai, as he travels from
his remote village to Brazil's capitol, encountering for the first time airplanes,
elevators, and skyscrapers. But the real barriers are not physical but bureaucratic
and cultural. He doesn't read or write, has never been at a meeting before,
and doesn't speak the language of these foreign people.
Unlike the traditional depictions of indigenous persons as pristine, removed
from the forces of the outside world, At the Edge of Conquest reveals
a society grappling with the real politique of a larger nation-state.
Chief Wai-Wai is fighting the role of victim in a desperate effort to shape
the destiny of his people. It is a voyage resembling a cross between Alice
in Wonderland and a Kafkaesque nightmare. But it is one which ultimately
all isolated indigenous societies are forced to make if they are to survive
this rapidly changing world.
A Study Guide is available at http://www.coacrews.com/amazon
Latin American Studies Association, 1994
American Anthropological Association, 1993
Blue Ribbon, American Film & Video Festival, 1992
Bronze Apple, National Educational Film & Video Festival, 1992
U.S. Environmental Film Festival, 1992
Chicago Latino Film Festival, 1992
28 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental: $55.
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