Based on the powerful words of shaman and Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa, ‘The Falling Sky’ portrays the Indigenous community of Watorikɨ as it engages in a vital funeral rite known as a Reahu - a collective effort to hold up the sky. The film stands as a trenchant shamanic critique of illegal gold mining, the deadly mix of epidemics brought by outsiders the Yanomami call “xawara”, and those Davi calls the “merchandise people.” Showcasing the beauty of Yanomami cosmology and its xapiri spirits while also highlighting this people’s geopolitical importance, ‘The Falling Sky’ invites us to dream far.
THE FALLING SKY marks Eryk Rocha’s 10th feature film, and his 3rd time at Cannes where he won the L’Oeil d’Or Award for CINEMA NOVO in 2016. Co-director Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha is a Brazilian artist, theater director, performer, filmmaker and environmental art activist who works for more than 10 years with the Brazilian Amazon. Previously, she worked alongside Rocha for EDNA (2021), as well as a collection of short films directed by Yanomami directors - THE TREE OF DREAM (2023), FISHING WITH TIMBÓ (2023), and A WOMAN THINKING (2023).
ARUAC FILMES
HUTUKARA ASSOCIAÇÃO YANOMAMI
STEMAL ENTERTAINMENT
RAI CINEMA
LES FILMS D'ICI
Davi Kopenawa, Justino Yanomami,
Givaldo Yanomami, Raimundo Yanomami,
Dinarte Yanomami, Guiomar Kopenawa,
Roseane Yariana, Watorikɨ Community
Producers: Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Donatella Palermo
Associate Producer: Richard Copans
Director of Photography and Camera: Eryk Rocha, Bernard Machado
Additional Camera: Morzaniel Ɨramari, Roseane Yariana
Editor: Renato Vallone
Sound: Marcos Lopes
Sound Design and Mix: Guile Martins
Cannes - Quinzaine des Cinéastes
International Guanajuato Film Festival
Best International Documentary Feature
DMZ DOCS
International Competition Special Jury Award
Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival
Best Sound Award and Best Direction for Documentary
Doclisboa International Film Festival
INATEL Foundation Award
DOC NYC
Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival
Festival de Cine de Lima
Festival Internacional de Cine Documental de Buenos Aires
Festival Biarritz Amérique Latine
Melbourne International Film Festival
DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival
Festival La Manufacture d’Idées
AFI Latin American Film Festival
Hawai'i International Film Festival
Pravo Ljudski Film Festival Sarajevo
Refocus Film Festival
Brésil en Mouvements - Documentary Film Festival