The Amazon region is increasingly under threat due to climate change and the harmful policies and rhetoric of hostile governments. In the “Amazonia Now: Perspectives on a Region in Crisis,” an event taking place through the Program of Portuguese in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at Florida State University (via zoom) between November 16-19 of 2020, we will address the ongoing issues threatening the region.
The event will continue discussions initiated by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University during their Worldwide Week in October 2020 (The Future of the Amazon, Lessons from the Past Oct. 5-9).
“Amazonia Now: Perspectives on a Region in Crisis” aims to offer a space to reflect on challenges in the region including unhindered development, environmental catastrophe, deforestation, mining, fires and the hostile government of Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro.
Throughout the event, participants will be invited to exchange experiences that look towards alternatives to conventional development. It will also be a chance to think about the future of the Amazon region and the potential impacts after the results of The United States election.
The Lecture Series will be held in a collaborative, open and friendly atmosphere and will provide a rich opportunity for Indigenous leaders, environmentalists, politicians, artists and academics to make connections and rethink the legacies, practices, demands and prospects for the diverse groups and sectors that shape the Amazon.
Documentary and talks
The event is free and open to the public with conversations being held in English, Spanish and Portuguese. The activities will begin with the screening of “O Índio Cor de Rosa Contra a Fera Invisível – Noel Nutels (The Pink Indian Against the Invisible Beast),” a documentary by Tiago Carvalho.
The film narrates the years between the 40’s and 70’s, the public health physician Noel Nutels travelled around inland Brazil providing medical care to indigenous, rural and riverside populations. Noel filmed many of his expeditions on 16mm film. In 1968 he was invited to speak on the indian situation at a parliamentary inquiry commission, a few days before the radicalization of the dictatorship in Brazil.
His unpublished films and the record of his speech at the commission come together in “The Pink Indian Against the Invisible Beast” to denounce what Nutels called the historic massacre against indigenous people. This will kick off a four-days series of talks and roundtables with academic and non-academic speakers.
Trailer
Registration information coming soon!
Inscrições em breve!
“Amazonia Now: Perspectives on a Region in Crisis” is a joint effort between Florida State University, Harvard University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Davis and other partner organizations.