from icarus films

10th Parallel AN AMAZONIAN ADVENTURE

Icarus Films is proud to announce its acquisition of all North American distribution rights to Silvio Da-Rin’s 10th Parallel which is now available for classroom, cinematheque and film festival bookings. Set in the lush Amazonian jungles of Brazil, this harrowing real-life tale has the intrigue and daring of a Joseph Conrad novel. 10th Parallel will be of interest to film programmers of top environmental film festivals–as well as fans of elegant filmmaking and adventure!

During 21 dangerous days, Amazon frontiersman José Carlos Meirelles voyages 300-miles into the heart of the rainforest. He is employed by FUNAI, the National Indian Foundation of Brazil. Along with anthropologist Txai Terri de Aquino, Meirelles is traveling to an outpost at the latitude that marks Brazil’s border with Peru: the 10th Parallel South. Here, he hopes to ease tension between local communities and unpredictable “isolated” or previously uncontacted indiginous Indian tribes who live hidden in the Amazonian jungles–the larges such population in the world.

Until 1987, FUNAI attempted to make contact with previously isolated tribes and integrate them within the Brazilian state. The policy had disastrous results: the death or economic enslavement of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people. Since then, FUNAI has sought to maintain these tribes’ isolation. Sertanistas like Meirelles, the very people who used to make first contact with the tribes on behalf of the government, are now charged with ensuring the new policy of isolation is observed. Yet is it possible–or morally advisable–to advocate on the tribes’ behalf without their participation?

10th Parallel documents a extremely perilous, yet highly delicate and diplomatic labor. With few resources, the specialists face traffickers and squatters–even putting their lives at risk in violent confrontations and hazardous jungle travel. Over the course of the film, Meirelles offers concessions on behalf of the government to the contacted indigenous communities that have suffered the greatest losses while trying to protect those who remain uncontacted. A fascinating high-stakes adventure 10th Parallel is a remarkable document for understanding the thorny implications of different approaches to contact with indiginous populations and the challenges to creating a peaceful coexistance, bringing viewers deep into the Amazon and into close proximity with the rainforest’s uncontacted tribes.

Official Selection of the Guadalajara International Film Festival 2012
Official Selection of the Paris Brazilian Film Festival 2012
Official Selection of the Belo Horizonte Film Festival 2012