In collaboration with Brazil’s indigenous Yanomami people, THE FALLING SKY follows the Yanomami leader and shaman Davi Kopenawa as he fights to return the world to balance in closely observed rituals and trenchant comments on the ruthless logic of a materialistim outside culture. Illegal logging, gold mining, and the deadly mix of epidemics these intrusions spread threaten the existence of the Yanomami. Based on an acute understanding of geopolitical forces, Davi Kopenawa holds up a mirror to capitalist societies of “the merchandise people” and the unsustainable lifestyle of the so-called “developed countries” that threatens the survival of humanity as a whole.
The Falling Sky
The Falling Sky
A film by Eryk Rocha and Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
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About the Director
Eryk Rocha
Eryk Rocha, born in Brazil in 1978, graduated in Los Baños, Cuba. His first film “Rocha que Voa” (2002) was selected in Venice, Rotterdam, Locarno and other important festivals. In his extensive filmography, highlights Sunday Ball (2014), Burning Night (2019) and EDNA (2021) which received several awards and presence at renowned festivals in the world like CPH:DOX, Telluride, Sundance,MoMa New Directors, Visions du Réel. Cinema Novo (2016) received L’Oeil d’Or Best Documentary at Cannes in 2016.
Filmography:
Feature-Films
Rocha Que Voa (Stones in the Sky) | Documentary | 94’ | Cuba, Brazil | 2002
Intervalo Clandestino (Clandestine Interval) | Documentary | 94 ‘| Brazil | 2006
Pachamama | Documentary | 105’ | Brazil | 2008
Transeunte (Passerby) | Fiction | 125’ | Brazil | 2010
Jards | Documentary | 93’ | Brazil | 2012
Campo de Jogo (Sunday Ball) | Documentary | 71’ | Brazil | 2014
Cinema Novo | Documentary | 90’ | Brazil | 2016
Breve Miragem de Sol (Burning Night)l | Fiction | 95’ | Brazil, Argentina, France | 2019
EDNA | Documentary | 64′ | Brazil | 2021
A Queda do Céu (The Falling Sky) | 110′ | Brazil, Italy, France | 2024
Short-films
Quimera | Fiction| 15’ | Brazil | 2004
Medula | Fiction | 15’ | Brazil | 2005
La Rueda | Documentary | 10’ | Brazil | 2012
Istanbul | Documentary | 26’ Brazil | 2013
El Aula Vacía “Igor” | Documentary | 13’ | Brazil | 2015
Marcha à Ré (Reverse Gear) | Documentary | 12’ | Brazil, Germany | 2020
Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Brazilian filmmaker, theater director, researcher and environmental artistic activist. She is a partner at Aruac Films and creator of Margins project – about Rivers, Buiúnas and Fireflies through which developed the plays GUERRILLA (2015), ALTAMIRA 2042 (2019) and TAPAJÓS (2025), and the films EDNA (2021) and THE FALLING SKY (2024), which is her first film as director. Her work has been presented at Wiener Festwochen, Festival D’automne and Centre Georges Pompidou.
Cast and Crew
CREW
Directors and Script Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha
With Davi Kopenawa, Justino Yanomami, Givaldo Yanomami, Raimundo Yanomami,
Dinarte Yanomami, Guiomar Kopenawa, Roseane Yariana, Watorikɨ Community
Producers Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha, Donatella Palermo
Associate Producer Richard Copans
Director of Photography and Camera Eryk Rocha, Bernard Machado
Additional Camera Morzaniel Ɨramari, Roseane Yariana
Editor Renato Vallone
Sound Marcos Lopes
Sound Design Guile Martins
Sound Mixing Toco Cerqueira
Original Soundtrack Comunidade de Watoriki
Color Grading Brunno Schiavon, Giovanni Bivi
Consultants Bruce Albert, Ana Maria Machado, Dário Vitório Kopenawa, Morzaniel Ɨramari,
Marília Senlle
Director Assistant Mariana de Melo
Executive Producers Heloisa Jinzenji and Tárik Puggina
Production Director Margarida Serrano
Yanomami Translators Ana Maria Machado, Richard Duque, Corrado Dalmonego, Marcelo
Moura, Morzaniel Ɨramari
Local Production Lidia Montanha Castro, Naira Souza Mello
Project Manager Lisa Gunn
Designer Sofia Tomic, Camilla Baratucci
Production Aruac Filmes
Co-production Hutukara Associação Yanomami, Stemal Entertainment with Rai Cinema
In Collaboration with Les Films d’Ici
Film Info
Year: 2004
Country:Brazil | Italy
Runtime: 108 min
Color: Color
Language:
Subtitles: English
Sound: 5.1
Awards and Festivals
Cannes Film Festival-Official Selection: Directors’ Fortnight
Melbourne International Film Festival
Hawaii International Film Festival
Guanajuato International Film Festival
Biarritz Amerique Latine Festival
Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival
