Winner: Best Documentary Award, Special Mention
Executive Producer Laura Nix is expected to attend the January 2nd screening.
Film Festival 2026
film synopsis
In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, Juma Xipaia emerges as a fierce defender of her people and their ancestral land. Once a young woman vowing to fight for Indigenous rights, she now stands as the first female chief of the Middle Xingu. Facing violent threats from landowners and corporations amid political upheaval, Xipaia and her husband risk everything to protect their community, all while preparing to welcome a child. Shot with both gripping immediacy and emotional intimacy, Yanuni captures one woman’s unbreakable resolve amid Brazil’s escalating war over the environment, and the future of its Indigenous peoples.