Films about native people
In alphabetical order.
Most of the films are about the relationship between white people and native people, or between people from the city and the natives.
Most of the films are about the relationship between white people and native people, or between people from the city and the natives.
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56 titles
- DirectorCiro GuerraStarsNilbio TorresJan BijvoetAntonio BolívarThe story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of forty years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsNicole KidmanHugh JackmanShea AdamsIn 1939, an Englishwoman inherits a sprawling ranch in northern Australia and reluctantly makes a pact with a stockman to drive 2000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape.
- DirectorKevin CostnerStarsKevin CostnerMary McDonnellGraham GreeneLieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
- DirectorLuiz BolognesiStarsPerpera SuruíEver since their first contact with the Western world in 1969 the Paiter Suruí, an indigenous people living in the Amazon basin, have been exposed to sweeping social changes. Smartphones, gas, electricity, medicines, weapons and social media have now replaced their traditional way of life. Illness is a risk for a community increasingly unable to isolate itself from the modernization brought by white people or the power of the church. Ethnocide threatens to destroy their soul. With dogged persistence, Perpera, a former shaman, is searching for a way to restore the old vitality to his village.
- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsGérard DepardieuPhilippe NoiretCatherine DeneuveYoung army officer of peasant origin becomes a war hero battling in the Sahara while seducing a young woman from the aristocratic class.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsJason PatricGene HackmanRobert DuvallThe story of the Apache chief and his armed resistance to the U.S. Government's subjugation of his people.
- DirectorLuís Alberto PereiraStarsCarlos EvelynAriana MessiasDarci FigueiredoOn the eve of his return to Europe after an extended involuntary stay in 16th-century Brazil, the German sailor Hans Staden is captured by a hostile cannibal Indian tribe. In order to survive he tries to convince the Indians that he is not Portuguese (their enemies) but a friend of the French (their allies), and that his God would be very angry if they were to eat him.
- DirectorCarlos FaustoTakumã KuikuroLeonardo SetteA important female ritual approaches and a woman Indian rehearses the songs and dances.
- DirectorLuiz BolognesiJean Cullen De MouraMarcelo Fernandes De MouraStarsSelton MelloCamila PitangaRodrigo SantoroRevolves around the love between an immortal hero and Janaína, the woman he has been in love with for 600 years, through Brazil's colonization, slavery, military regime and the future, in 2096, in the midst of wars for water.
- DirectorBernardo RuizThe "infinite race" explores the story of Tarahumara, an indigenous community in Mexico, famed for their legendary running ability and their preference for running barefoot, who inspired an ultrarunning craze across the world, and what's happened as their homes and communities were ravaged by drug cartels and violence.
- DirectorSergio PablosCarlos Martínez LópezStarsJason SchwartzmanJ.K. SimmonsRashida JonesA simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.Sámi, from Finland, are important in the story.
- DirectorArthur PennStarsDustin HoffmanFaye DunawayChief Dan GeorgeJack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
- DirectorVincent CarelliTatiana AlmeidaErnesto de CarvalhoStarsCelso AokiMyriam Medina AokiOriel BenitesA analysis about the violence and the struggle suffered by the Guarani Kaiowá group, one of the biggest Indian populations of Brazil.
- DirectorRon ClementsJohn MuskerDon HallStarsAuli'i CravalhoDwayne JohnsonRachel HouseIn ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the demigod Maui reaches Moana's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out Maui to set things right.
- DirectorJean-Pierre Dikongue-PipaStarsPhilippe AbiaArlette Din BeliGisèle Dikongue-PipaNgando and Ndomé; are in love. Ngando wishes to marry Ndomé; but her family reminds him that the traditional dowry must be settled. Unfortunately, Ngando is poor and unable to fulfill the tradition. Ndomé; is pregnant and bears his child. According to the village tradition, she must take a husband, at least one who can afford to pay the dowry. The villagers decide that Ndomé; should marry Ngando's uncle, who has already three sterile wives. In despair, the young man kidnaps his daughter upon the day of the traditional feast. An African Romeo and Juliet story.
- DirectorAndreas Voigt
- DirectorMike GabrielEric GoldbergStarsMel GibsonLinda HuntChristian BaleAn English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.
- DirectorIsabel PenoniLeonardo SetteAfter they find out that their husbands have mysteriously transformed into raging pigs the women of the village decide to take action.More about the film: http://portacurtas.org.br/filme/?name=porcos_raivosos
- DirectorSylvio BackStarsCarlos Pussineri ScalaThe story of the so called Christian-Communist Republic of the Guaranis. Formed by jesuit missions in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay, between 1610/1767, it congregated about 150,000 indians in almost fifty "Reductions" (the cities organized by the Jesuits). The Christian-Communist Republic of the Guaranis was decimated by attacks of expeditions and mercenaries, and served as excuse for the kings of Portugal and Spain to banish the Jesuits from America.
- DirectorAlejandro G. IñárrituStarsLeonardo DiCaprioTom HardyWill PoulterA frontiersman on a fur trading expedition in the 1820s fights for survival after being mauled by a bear and left for dead by members of his own hunting team.
- DirectorSylvio BackCollage of more than 30 documentaries and fiction films, photographs and some sound recordings about the 1930 Brazilian Revolution, its origins and consequences.
- DirectorGeorge MarshallStarsCharlton HestonSusan MorrowPeter HansenA white boy raised by the Sioux must choose sides when the Sioux threaten to go to war against the Whites.
- DirectorJosé PadilhaStarsRobert BorofskyJesus CardozoNapoleon A. ChagnonThe field of anthropology goes under the magnifying glass in this fiery investigation of the seminal research on Yanomami Indians. In the 1960s and '70s, a steady stream of anthropologists filed into the Amazon Basin to observe this "virgin" society untouched by modern life. Thirty years later, the events surrounding this infiltration have become a scandalous tale of academic ethics and infighting.
- DirectorAndrea TonacciThe documentary, using re-enactments, traces the steps of an indigenous man from a small Amazon tribe, who may be the sole survivor of a 1970s era massacre.
- DirectorJavier CorcueraStarsBillie CartierA trip through the diversity of black and native Peruvian music.Sigo siendo
- DirectorKelly AsburyLorna CookStarsMatt DamonJames CromwellDaniel StudiA captured mustang remains determined to return to his herd no matter what.
- DirectorXavier KollerStarsAdam BeachMandy PatinkinSheldon Peters WolfchildFictional chronicle of Squanto's life prior to and including the arrival of the "Mayflower" in 1620.Squanto
- DirectorSérgio BlochTania LamarcaStarsMarcos ApoloEunice BaíaGuilherme BriggsA brave and bold indian girl, protector of her jungle and its wild life and guided by her shaman grandfather, pairs with a boy from the big city, against animal traffickers in the Amazon forest.
- DirectorIcíar BollaínStarsGael García BernalLuis TosarKarra ElejaldeAs a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privatize the water supply.También la lluvia
- DirectorMichael AptedStarsVal KilmerSam ShepardGraham GreeneA young mixed-blood FBI agent is assigned to work with a cynical veteran investigator on a murder on a poverty-stricken Sioux reservation.
- DirectorCao HamburgerStarsJoão MiguelFelipe CamargoCaio BlatThree brothers embark on a journey that begins with a kinship with Brazil's indigenous tribes, to their creation of South America's largest national park.
- DirectorIdrissa OuedraogoStarsFatimata SangaNoufou OuédraogoRoukietou BarryA small village in Burkina Faso. The story focuses on Bila, a ten year old boy who befriends an old woman, Sana. Everybody calls her 'Witch' but Bila himself calls her 'Yaaba' (grandmother). When Bila's cousin Nopoko gets sick it is Sana's medicine who saves her.
- DirectorRogério Corrêa
- DirectorMaya Da-RinStarsManoel DiasIrene IpuchimaBasilia KumimarimaOn the triple frontier between Brazil, Colombia and Peru, the twin towns of Letícia and Tabatinga form an urban island surrounded by the Amazon rain-forest. Following the ordinary events and the constant come and go of people along the border, Terras portrays the presence and the influence of the frontier on the lives of its inhabitants.
- DirectorRodrigo HinrichsenLúcia MuratIn 1999 Lucia Murat wrote, produced and directed the feature film "Brave New Land" where the Kadiwéu people - native Brazilian Indians who live in the West of Brazil - were characters. "The Nation That Didn't Wait For God" is a documentary shot in 2013/2014 about this same tribe, by the same director, co-directed by Rodrigo Hinrichsen, the assistant director of "Brave New Land". Throughout these 15 years, electricity has arrived to the reservation and with it so did television, soap operas, etc. Five protestant churches were settled in their village, and all of them have Kadiwéu pastors. But in keeping with their warrior tradition, they have gone back to fighting for their land that the white cattle breeder men have invaded. This documentary shows us the different paths that the Kadiwéu tribe has taken.
- DirectorOswaldo de OliveiraStarsJofre SoaresGlória MenezesRoberto BonfimMid 17th century Portugal, in a deep financial crisis, decided to extend Brazilian territory to the west, where it was believed that there was gold and precious stones to be discovered. Fernão Dias Paes, a loyal servant of the metropolis, accepted the task of discovering the riches that would preserve the luxury of the Portuguese crown. Wealthy and already sixty-five years old, he left his wife and daughters and went in search of Eldorado becoming one of the most prominent bandeirantes.
- DirectorMaya Da-RinStarsRegis MyrupuRosa PeixotoJohnatan SodréJustino, a 45-year-old Desana native, is a security guard at the Manaus harbor. As his daughter prepares to study medicine in Brasilia, Justino is taken over by a mysterious fever.
- DirectorRodrigo PiovezanMarcelo SantiagoStarsKeruse BongioloJaqueline DantasRui Ricardo DiazLife and the highlights of General Rondon, a great historic leader digging into western lands and helping to integrate it to the rest of the country.
- DirectorNiki CaroStarsKeisha Castle-HughesRawiri ParateneVicky HaughtonA contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.
- DirectorToumany KouyatéBeatriz SeignerStarsToumany KouyatéMamadou KouyatéBakari KouyatéIn 2014, Malian Toumani Kouyaté was urgently summoned to his native country to hear his grandfather tell his final story. Feeling death approaching, the experienced man decided to pass on the tradition.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsGerardo TaracenaRaoul Max TrujilloDalia HernándezAs the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsTom BerengerJohn LithgowDaryl HannahMartin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians. Their remote mission was previously run by the Catholics, before the natives murdered them all. They are sent by the pompous Leslie Huben, who runs the missionary effort in the area but who seems more concerned about competing with his Catholic 'rivals' than in the Indians themselves. Hazel is terrified of the Indians while Martin is fascinated. Soon American pilot Lewis Moon joins the Indian tribe but is attracted by Leslie's young wife, Andy. Can the interaction of these characters and cultures, and the advancing bulldozers of civilization, avoid disaster?
- DirectorRita CarelliVincent CarelliThe 'Vídeo nas Aldeias' performed with the Enawenê Nawê Indians, for fifteen years, extensive records of Yaõkwa, their longest ritual, in which the masters of ceremony pull, for seven months, a myriad of songs, in order to maintain the balance of the earthly world as a spiritual world. In this film, another fifteen years later, the Enawenê Nawê rediscover these images and, with them, deceased relatives, customs that have fallen into disuse and precious ritual songs.
- DirectorCarlos NascimbeniA deep dive into contemporary Brazilian music. Guided by the composer, anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Kilza Setti and the Hésperides Música das Américas nucleus, the documentary takes us to a world where contemporary music, the Guarani and Timbira peoples, the colonization of America and poetic professions meet.
- DirectorSinai SganzerlaStarsMarcus AlvisiHelena IgnezNegro LeoMorro do Castelo was chosen by the Portuguese to found Rio de Janeiro city. It was an important historical and architectural reference. Despite its relevance, the hill was destroyed by urban reforms aimed to promote real state speculation.
- DirectorLírio FerreiraStarsAlessandra NegriniAntonio Haddad AguerreGuilherme WeberCicero is a 12-year-old boy who finds his father dead in the bathroom, victim of a massive heart attack. The boy's mother, who spends long periods away from home, returns to Sao Paulo, interrupting the filming of her film in the Amazon rainforest. Cicero convinces her to take a long trip across the northeast of the country to bring his father's ashes to his hometown.
- DirectorJiahuang PengPeng ChenStarsAnamulingXiwen CaoYifei ChenThis film follows a 7-year-old boy, Wawa, and his older sister, Naxiang, who live beside the Nujiang River in Yunnan Province, China. Every day, Naxiang crosses the river to attend school using an overhead cable, but their mother will not allow Wawa to use the cable. Eventually, Wawa secretly uses the cable to cross to the other side, and the siblings' lives are changed forever.
- DirectorJayro BustamanteStarsMaría Mercedes CoroyMaría TelónManuel AntúnOn the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents.
- DirectorJamille FortunatoStarsClebisson DominguesCariane MartinesAn 9-year-old Guarani Kaiowá Indian girl named Carine Martines living in the Amambai Indian Village in Mato Grosso do Sul near the Brazil-Paraguay border, transforms her backyard into an experiment of the world. With nothing but leaves, bricks and pieces of wood and paper, she creates stories and characters that broaden her solitude into games, dreams and projects.
- DirectorCaroline LinkStarsJuliane KöhlerMerab NinidzeMatthias HabichDue to Hitler's threat, Walter Redlich, a Jewish lawyer, immigrates to Kenya with his wife Jettel and daughter Regina. Things take a turn when the family is ordered to move by the British officers.
- DirectorRodrigo SéllosSearching for Makunaima is a cultural and historical account of the most Brazilian character there is in fiction. The film begins with Makunaima, one of the founding myths of the native people from the border between Brazil-Venezuela-Guiana, first captured in the writings of the German ethnographer Koch-Grünberg at the beginning of the 1910s. With interviews in Portuguese, German, Spanish, and in the indigenous languages Macuxi and Taurepang, Searching for Macunaima reclaims this amazing character who represents Brazil in many ways (from literature to cinema to theatre) and remains relevant to date.
- DirectorHumberto MauroStarsAlvaro CostaJoão de DeusManoel RochaThe Armada of Pedro Álvares Cabral discovers Brazil.
- DirectorBurt KennedyStarsJohn WayneKirk DouglasHoward KeelThe story of a man who was shot, robbed and imprisoned who returns to steal a large gold shipment from the man who wronged him. The gold is transported in an armored stage coach, the War Wagon.
- DirectorAurélio MichilesStarsStephen ReaIn 1910 Irish diplomat Roger Casement, fresh from seeing Belgian atrocities in the Congo,is sent by Britain to report on rubber extraction by a Brazil company. What he records in his diary is a milestone in the history of human rights.