If the shamans stop dancing and life in the rainforest loses its balance, the sky will collapse and crush everything beneath it. This story has been passed down in the Brazilian Amazon by every generation of Yanomami. But greed for gold is polluting rivers and poses a threat to the Yanomami. Their shamans are dying as the earth warms. Davi Kopenawa, Yanomami shaman and spokesman, has been fighting these threats for more than forty years. When Brazilian President Bolsonaro announces that industry will be allowed to set up in the Amazon – on Yanomami territory – Davi sets out on a journey around the world to defend his people against endless colonisation. Can he convince white people that the Yanomami aren’t the only ones who will be destroyed if the sky collapses?
Learn more about ClientEarth's work with indigenous communities here
Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott
Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott
Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott is Managing Director and Head of ClientEarth in Germany. Before he was a researcher at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and a Member of Parliament of the Green Party in the Deutscher Bundestag. He holds a doctorate in law and teaches at the University of Sustainable Development in Eberswalde close to Berlin.
Pieter Van Eecke
Pieter Van Eecke
Pieter Van Eecke is a filmmaker based in Brussels. His first feature length documentary SAMUEL IN THE CLOUDS (2016) was awarded worldwide, a.o. Gold Hugo Award at Chicago Film Festival & Gold Gentiano at Trento Film Festival. His second feature HOLDING UP THE SKY with Davi Kopenawa premiered at FIFDH 2023 and was theatrically released in Belgium and the Netherlands. His 3rd feature film, PLANET B, about two climate youngsters joining Extinction Rebellion, premiered at Visions du Réel 2023.
Kaja Blumtritt
Kaja is a law and policy advisor at ClientEarth, working in their value chains, trade and investment team. Her work focuses on deforestation-free supply chains and on the establishment and enforcement of legal standards in major consumer markets to tackle the adverse impacts of agriculture commodity supply chains on people and planet. She works extensively on the EU Deforestation Regulation. Kaja holds an MA in International Relations and an LLM in Public International Law.
Gefolgt von Filmgespräch mit / Followed by film talk with Pieter Van Eecke (Director), Kaja Blumtritt (Client Earth)
Gefolgt von Filmgespräch mit / Followed by film talk with Pieter Van Eecke (Director), Kaja Blumtritt (Client Earth)
Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott
Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott
Prof. Dr. Hermann Ott is Managing Director and Head of ClientEarth in Germany. Before he was a researcher at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and a Member of Parliament of the Green Party in the Deutscher Bundestag. He holds a doctorate in law and teaches at the University of Sustainable Development in Eberswalde close to Berlin.
Pieter Van Eecke
Pieter Van Eecke
Pieter Van Eecke is a filmmaker based in Brussels. His first feature length documentary SAMUEL IN THE CLOUDS (2016) was awarded worldwide, a.o. Gold Hugo Award at Chicago Film Festival & Gold Gentiano at Trento Film Festival. His second feature HOLDING UP THE SKY with Davi Kopenawa premiered at FIFDH 2023 and was theatrically released in Belgium and the Netherlands. His 3rd feature film, PLANET B, about two climate youngsters joining Extinction Rebellion, premiered at Visions du Réel 2023.
Kaja Blumtritt
Kaja is a law and policy advisor at ClientEarth, working in their value chains, trade and investment team. Her work focuses on deforestation-free supply chains and on the establishment and enforcement of legal standards in major consumer markets to tackle the adverse impacts of agriculture commodity supply chains on people and planet. She works extensively on the EU Deforestation Regulation. Kaja holds an MA in International Relations and an LLM in Public International Law.
