Hot Docs

Maria Raduan’s penetrating documentary puts the Brazilian rainforest back on the list of regions to watch. Valley of the Forgotten unpacks a land dispute that will potentially outlive the forest itself. On one side are the Xavante, who have returned after a disastrous forced displacement. On the other side are the ranchers with their hungry herds. Additional combatants make this less a fight for the frontier and more an ideological battle royale. Meet the squatters, granted rights to the land by a government measure dubbed the ‘land-grabbers bill’ by critics. And last, gaining in numbers, are the landless, a movement inspired by liberation theology. With sophisticated objectivity this documentary presents each group, passionate in their beliefs and willing to fight to the finish, and presses the question: With all sides slashing and burning this precious environment, what will be the victor’s prize? - Merrie Whitmore