In Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, the farming classes lead a wealthy and leisurely existence. Owning vast swaths of agricultural land, covered with GM (genetically modified) crops, they spend their nights entertaining tourists who have come to the area on bird watching holidays.
Meanwhile, the indigenous Guarani- Kaiowá people live an uneasy existence on the fringes of the farmers land. Treated as another curiosity by the bird watchers they are forced to live on enclosed reserves.
Employment prospects are bleak with little option than to work as semi-slaves on sugar beet plantations. It is a situation that drives many young people to suicide.
One such suicide begins to stir up a rebellion within the local Guarani- Kaiowá
community.
Led by Nadio and the local shaman the group set up an encampment on the border of a farming estate in a bid to regain the land on which their forefathers are buried. Thus the two opposing worlds are forced to face each other, clashing both ideologically as well as physically.
However, both sides are also fascinated and curious about “the other”. This curiosity begins to flower into relationships, best exemplified by the deep bonds that develop between the young shaman apprentice Osvaldo, and the
farmer’s daughter Maria.
But whether their young love can withstand the cultural fissures of a nation remains to be seen.
Birdwatchers is released 18th September