Amazônia Fund Alliance will be launched in Cannes – 05/18/2023 – Environment

Brazil is honored by the Better World Fund (BWF) in this edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Every year, the NGO organizes meetings at prestigious international events to “finance cultural programs committed to social and environmental causes”, explains the statement from the fund.

The launch of the Amazônia Fund Alliance takes place in the halls of the Carlton Cannes Hotel, on the 21st and 22nd of May, with the presence of prestigious personalities and filmmakers. The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, Federal Deputy Célia Xakriabá, and Secretary of State Osmar Almeida Junior, are the guests of honor. The advisory of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples confirmed Guajajara’s trip to Cannes to participate in the event, and added that the minister’s agenda in France is still being finalized.

After the launch ceremony, on Sunday, there will be a gala dinner to raise funds for the awarded projects. On Monday, a series of conferences will be held at the Carlton Hotel.

Minimum income for indigenous families

This year, the BWF supports two projects: the Akbaraly Foundation, which promotes the right to health, education and a better quality of life for women and children in Madagascar, and the Amazônia Fund Alliance, which aims to preserve the ecosystems of the Amazon region .

Organizers warn of a “humanitarian, environmental and socioeconomic disaster” in Brazil. They recall that, for the first time, deforestation in the Amazon exceeds the mark of 10,000 km² per year, an area ten times larger than that of ten years ago.

The international fund launched in Cannes will invest directly in minimum income for indigenous peoples and peoples of the Legal Amazon. Research projects, reforestation, preservation of rivers and springs, and a campaign to reduce waste and CO emissions_two are also among the objectives of the independent fund.

The project expects to raise US$ 5 million (about R$ 25 million) in the first year of operation. The fundraising campaign starts during the Cannes Film Festival, with dinners for auctions and fundraising.

A charity gala is scheduled to take place at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Beneficiary populations

As part of the program, BFUCA Unesco is currently carrying out research in the most critical regions of the Amazon territory, mapping indigenous populations, NGOs and families committed to reforestation and preservation of the Legal Amazon.

The organizers guarantee that the selection process will be thorough and that the resources will only finance projects by non-profit NGOs, with proven regional performance.

They state that each donation will be deposited into an “escrow account”, a type of escrow account where funds are only released when the parties to the transaction comply with the agreement. Contributions are open and can be made by anyone in Brazil or around the world, after the launch of the fund.

Significant participation of Brazil

After having only one film in the official Cannes selection last year, Brazil once again has a significant presence at the festival. Six Brazilian films, five feature films and one short film, were selected in several exhibitions, and Karim Aïnouz is in contention for the Palme d’Or with “Firebrand”.

In addition, the Brazilian stand at the important “Market do Filme” in Cannes welcomes dozens of filmmakers and producers, and promotes “Escrito em Ossos”, by Tainá Muhringer, and “O Filho da Puta”, a Brazilian co-production by Otto Escolhas. The young Brazilian composer Pedro Salles Santiago was the only one selected from Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere in the select program Spot The Composer of the Cannes Film Market dedicated to the composition of soundtracks.