The Falling Sky

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The Falling Sky

2025

1h 50m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

100%

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10 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Based on the powerful words of shaman and Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa, 'The Falling Sky' portrays the Indigenous community of Watorikɨ as it engages in a vital funeral rite known as a Reahu -- a collective effort to hold up the sky. The film stands as a trenchant shamanic critique of illegal gold mining, the deadly mix of epidemics brought by outsiders the Yanomami call "xawara", and those Davi calls the "merchandise people." Showcasing the beauty of Yanomami cosmology and its xapiri spirits while also highlighting this people's geopolitical importance, 'The Falling Sky' invites us to dream far.

Sheri Linden

The Hollywood Reporter

05/24/2024

The Falling Sky presents something more immediate than an argument... And, perhaps most wrenchingly, it offers the memories of an elderly Yanomami man whose life was upended by the belligerent missionaries who ravaged his community and put him to work.

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Carlos Aguilar

Variety

05/20/2024

One of the most necessary and scorching pieces of nonfiction storytelling in recent memory.

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Guilherme Jacobs

IndieWire

05/20/2024

B-

Rocha and Carneiro might not equal their subjects when it comes to image-making, but their movie does provide a way for these fantasies to, hopefully, outlive those who seek to wipe them out.

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

Oct 29

The film encourages us as viewers to reassess our own materialistic worldview and the unsuitability of a lifestyle so entrenched in capitalism that it is threatened the wellbeing of whole world.

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Amyana Bartley

QBP Reviews

03/27/2025

6.5/10

Will we ever awaken before it’s too late?

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Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

03/05/2025

A mesmerizing and lyrical documentary.

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Jorge S

@RT34154138 Jul 28

An intense and hard-hitting documentary about the Yanomami people's struggle to preserve their territories against various capitalist practices—including illegal mining, resource extraction, encroachment, and contamination. It features exquisite cinematography, flawless sound, and a sensitive script that maintains a rare level of coherence given the importance of the subject matter. It is not an easy watch—which makes it all the better. Shamanism confronts the resulting hardships with faith and struggle, through rituals involving the *xapiri* spirits that address both death and life. Two paraphrased quotes stand out among the few words spoken in Portuguese: "the road tore through the forest just as a knife tears through flesh," and "gold, diamonds, oil, timber... all extracted by the 'people of the commodity'"—referring to white men, the *napè*. Rating: 8.

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Eryk Rocha

Director

Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha

Director

Davi Kopenawa

Self

Justino Yanomami

Self

Eryk Rocha

Screenwriter

Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha

Screenwriter

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Synopsis

Based on the powerful words of shaman and Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa, 'The Falling Sky' portrays the Indigenous community of Watorikɨ as it engages in a vital funeral rite known as a Reahu -- a collective effort to hold up the sky. The film stands as a trenchant shamanic critique of illegal gold mining, the deadly mix of epidemics brought by outsiders the Yanomami call "xawara", and those Davi calls the "merchandise people." Showcasing the beauty of Yanomami cosmology and its xapiri spirits while also highlighting this people's geopolitical importance, 'The Falling Sky' invites us to dream far.

Director: Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
Producer: Donatella Palermo, Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
Screenwriter: Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, Bruce Albert
Distributor: KimStim
Production Co: Aruac Filmes, Hutukara Associação Yanomami, Stemal Entertainment, Rai Cinema, Les Films d'Ici
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Brazilian Portuguese
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 1h 50m