Amazon tribe go behind camera in Nat Geo film

When COVID-19 reached Brazil's Amazon, and an indigenous tribe sealed off its borders, director Alex Pritz found an innovative way to finish his documentary -- he handed the cameras over to the Uru-eu-wau-wau themselves.

"The Territory," to be released by National Geographic tomorrow, follows the plight of some 200 hunter-gatherers who live in a protected area of rainforest, surrounded and encroached upon by aggressive and illegal settlers, farmers and loggers.

While shown in the movie dressed in traditional garb and honoring ancient customs, the Uru-eu-wau-wau and their young leader Bitate -- the film's main subject -- were more than happy to use modern technology to fight back.

"When COVID happened, Bitate made the really bold decision to say 'Okay, no more journalists coming into our territory, no more filmmakers, no more Alex, no more documentary crew, nobody,'" said Pritz.

"We had to have a conversation with him like, 'Okay, are we done with the film? Do we have everything we need? Is there more? Should we start editing?'

"Bitate was really clear: 'No, we're not done. We still have a lot left to do. You guys weren't done before, why should you be done now?

"'Just send us better cameras, send us audio equipment, and we'll shoot and produce the last part of the movie.'"

The result was a "co-production model" in which an Uru-eu-wau-wau filmmaker is credited as cinematographer, and the community more broadly acted as producers with a share of profits and a say in business decisions about the film's distribution.

Besides enabling filming to continue into the pandemic, Pritz believes the decision to provide equipment and training directly to the Uru-eu-wau-wau benefited the film by adding a "firsthand...