The Village Resists

What happens when your land is being claimed as event zone for the two biggest sport events of the planet? A question that applies to the Indigenous community of Aldeia Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as they face increased pressure ahead of the World Cup and the Olympic Games in Brazil. The Indigenous group lives right next to the sport stadium that stages the finals of both sport events. They wish to maintain their land as an Indigenous meeting place like it has been since the early 20th century, but that does not correspond with the plans of the Brazilian authorities and the multinational corporations coming with the sport events. From within the Indigenous settlement, the film explores how the arrival of the sport events is being experienced, how the pressure rises and how the community resists.

The Village Resists explores the city as the frontline for the Indigenous peoples’ struggle for land and survival. Any battle lost in the city can have serious consequences all over Brazil, as the recent rise in attacks on Indigenous territories and peoples have shown.