Study Guide
Grades 9-12, College, Adult
Directed by Adrian Cowell
Produced by Adrian Cowell, Nomad Films Ltd
DVD Purchase $79, Rent $45
US Release Date: 1990
Copyright Date: 1990
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-332-3
VHS ISBN: 1-56029-030-7
Subjects
Brazil
Current Affairs
Developing World
Environment
Forests and Rainforests
History
Humanities
International Issues
Latin America
Awards and Festivals
American Film & Video Festival
Killing for Land
Squatters face off against gunmen hired by absentee landlords in the Amazon.
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"A very well-made documentary with a strong point of view." Video Rating Guide for Libraries |
In Brazil during the past two decades, nearly 24 million small farmers have lost their land, while almost half of Brazil's arable land is now owned by 1% of the population. Millions of poor farmers have migrated to the Amazon as homesteaders, and many have moved onto massive ranches carved out of the rainforest by large companies. These absentee landlords often leave the land idle and hold it purely for speculation. Violence erupts when the squatters begin to work the land and the landowners hire gunmen to frighten them off.
Other titles in the series are:
In the Ashes of the Forest - Part 1 - Saga of two colonists in the Amazon rainforest.
In the Ashes of the Forest - Part 2 - Concludes the Amazon colonists' saga.
Mountains of Gold - Gold mining in the Amazon is a dangerous and dirty business.
The Killing of Chico Mendes - The story of rainforest defender, Chico Mendes, that ended with his 1988 assassination.
Reviews
"A very well-made documentary with a strong point of view...It argues implicitly that the problem of how to save the rainforest is an economic and political as well as an ecological one."
Video Rating Guide for Libraries