The Buriti Flower

This Cannes-winning blend of documentary and fiction is an intoxicating, unique portrait of the Indigenous Krahô people and their unwavering resistance.

Young Jotàt is experiencing terrifying visions in her dreams. Her mother Patpro is intent on joining a demonstration in Brasilia against the Bolsonaro government’s policies that promote encroaching on their territory. Meanwhile, Patpro’s uncle Hỳjnõ acts as a protector of the Kraholândia reservation, battling poachers and intruders. From a 1940 massacre to a 1960s military dictatorship to the peak of former president Jair Bolsonaro’s reign, history repeats itself, threatening their land and their very way of life.

Moving fluidly through time, João Salaviza and Renée Nader Messora explore the identity and customs of the Krahô people across decades, with more than their blessing only – three members of the community share screenwriting credits. Shot on 16mm over 15 months, the duo’s second feature won them this year’s Cannes Un Certain Regard Ensemble Prize; their first, The Dead and the Others, also spotlighting Indigenous culture in Brazil, received the festival’s Jury Prize in 2018.