The Wind Blows the Border

2022 • Directed by

Laura Faerman

Documentary

On the violent border between Brazil and Paraguay, a war is being waged around the expansion of agribusiness. On one side sits lawyer Luana Ruiz, the heiress to contested lands and one of the strongest supporters of president Jair Bolsonaro. Ruiz, like other ruralistas—rural wealthy elites and agribusiness producers who advocate for Indigenous cultural annihilation—has become empowered and her ideas of hate have flourished under Bolsonaro's anti-Indigenous agenda. On the other side sits teacher, Guarani-Kaiowá leader and activist Alenir Ximendes, embodying powerful Indigenous resistance and communal ideals. Having personally suffered losses at the hands of the ruralistas, Ximendes emerges as a powerful force against Ruiz, fighting for the protection of her community, their lands and Indigenous constitutional rights. This film contains sensitive images and dialogue in its portrayal of this urgent struggle for sovereignty.