In 2005 the Amazon was suffering its worst drought ever recorded. All the media was concentrating on Hurricane Katrina and on the earthquake in Pakistan. I took a plane and went to see how forest people’s were going by with no clean water to drink. Seemed such a contradiction to go thirsty in the rainforest.

After zigzagging the huge state of Amazonas in search for an ideal place to shoot, I found myself in the middle of the disaster relief group. Military, Civil defense and politicians made a sort of control room in an air base.  There I saw that these actions were taken as much as for humanitarian reasons as political interests. I ended up following a city councelor of a town of only 500 people and the governor of the whole state.

I was appalled to see how methods of conquering new voters and keeping old ones nearby, were so similar in all the scale of politics. It was  like a metonomy of contemporary politics.  The film rapidly grew to be nominated for best documentary at It’s All True Festival and to the Human Rights Film Festival.

I never released it in theaters, though,  only in Cable.

I had known sides that politicians weren’t exaclty happy to show.

I feared for my life.