The Crying Forest – Documentary on Amazon Activist Ze Claudio
03 October, 2011The Crying Forest is a documentary about Ze Claudio Ribeiro da Silva, an Amazon rainforest activist, and his wife, who were gunned down in the Brazilian Amazon on May 24th 2011.
Figures suggest that since 1996 at least 212 Amazon activists have been murdered in their battle to preserve the rainforest. As one of the most prominent activists Ze Claudio’s death has truck a particular chord, especially on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Orkut which largely publicised the circumstances of his death.
Here is a quote from the film’s producers about Ze’s position and fateful end:
Renowned for standing up to the illegal loggers and ranchers who have laid waste to the world’s greatest tropical forest, Ze Claudio had long known he was a marked man. Investigations into the assassination are ongoing, but few doubt he was killed because of this unflinching struggle in defence of the environment. After riddling his body with bullets, the gunmen cut off one of Jose Claudio’s ears – proof, police say, that they had successfully completed their mission.
Director Gabriel Elizondo, from Al Jazeera, has used a mixture of original and archive footage, and interviews, the film explores the death of Ze Claudio, how he had already predicted his own execution and the legacy of this event.
The Crying Forest paints a shocking portrait of life in the Brazilian Amazon through the story of a couple that lived and died for the rainforest.
The Crying Forest was made by Al Jazeera.
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