Film documents woman’s fight to protect Amazon, despite death threats
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Juma Xipaia, a leader of the Xipaya people in Brazil, has faced six attempts on her life while defending the Amazon rainforest from illegal mining and deforestation.
The film Yanuni, co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, follows Juma’s work as she advocates for Indigenous rights, starting in her community in the Middle Xingu region and extending to national politics. She served as the first Secretary for Indigenous Rights during the Lula administration, openly challenging those destroying the Amazon.
The documentary also features Juma’s husband, Hugo Loss, who works as a special operations leader for IBAMA, Brazil’s federal environmental protection agency. He and his teams directly confront illegal miners in the forest, often facing danger from armed groups. Yanuni connects Juma’s political activism with the dangerous reality of environmental enforcement, and explores the personal stakes of her fight when she becomes pregnant.
The film highlights how illegal gold mining contaminates waterways and harms the ecosystems that Indigenous communities depend on for survival. It shifts the focus from large statistics about deforestation to the individual people risking their lives to protect their ancestral lands, framing the Amazon crisis as one of environmental protection, political struggle, and human rights. Yanuni is now available to watch for free on Leonardo DiCaprio’s YouTube channel.
