Yanuni follows the extraordinary journey of Juma Xipaia, an Indigenous chief from the Brazilian Amazon, as she rises from a remote village in Xipaya territory to the political frontlines of climate justice. A fearless defender of her people and the rainforest, Juma has survived six assassination attempts while confronting illegal gold miners, land-grabbers, and multinational corporations threatening her ancestral land. Spanning years of activism and personal sacrifice, the film captures Juma’s historic appointment as Brazil’s first Secretary of Indigenous Rights under President Lula. At her side is Hugo Loss, her husband and the head of Special Operations at IBAMA, Brazil’s environmental protection agency. As Juma fights on the political front, Hugo leads dangerous operations to dismantle illegal mining camps deep in the Amazon — often under armed threat. When Juma discovers she is pregnant, her battle takes on new urgency. Navigating impending motherhood, rising political responsibility, and Hugo’s high-risk missions, she is forced to confront the personal cost of resistance. Told with intimate access and cinematic urgency, Yanuni is both a love story and a call to action. It illuminates one of the world’s most critical environmental and human rights struggles through a deeply personal lens. At once epic and intimate, Yanuni is a powerful portrait of resilience, Indigenous sovereignty, and the fight to protect the world’s largest rainforest — for future generations and the planet we call home.

Awards:

IDA Award – Honorable Mention 2025 in the Feature Documentaries Category – International Documentary Association

Best Documentary – Special Mention – Palm Springs International Film Festival 2026 (USA)

Come to the screening half an hour early (at 3.30 PM) and experience the exceptional performance Extinction by Divadlo bez domova (Theatre With No Home) outside the cinema entrance.

Discussion after the screening will explore what gives someone the strength to stand up against forces greater than the individual, and what sacrifices such resistance demands. We will follow up on the performance by Divadlo bez domova by exploring topics of home, sense of belonging, and the loss of one's place in the world. Are Juma and the Amazon truly as distant from us as it first appears, or are we also fighting for our forests and nature in Slovakia, only in a different way and on a different scale?

Guests:

Marek Kuchta, My sme les (We Are the Forest)

Patrik Krebs, Divadlo bez domova (Theatre With No Home)

Dorota Osvaldová, Znepokojené matky (Concerned Mothers) and Greenpeace Slovakia

Moderated by Lucia Szabová.

The discussion will be held in Slovak and will be interpreted into Slovak sign language.

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Funded by the European Union.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the European Union or the European Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the EACEA assumes any responsibility for them.

The event is also accessible with audio description and descriptive subtitles thanks to the IncluCine 2 project, which is being implemented as part of the Collaborate to Innovate initiative under the auspices of Europa Cinemas and is funded by the Creative Europe – MEDIA program.