Ethan Hawke, a four-time Academy Award nominee, is scheduled to star in the jungle thriller “The Last of the Tribe,” set in Brazil’s Amazon. “The Last of the Tribe,” written by Mark Bailey (“Downfall,” “The Volcano”), is produced by Brazilian Academy Award-nominated Fernando Meirelles (“The Two Popes,” “City of God”) and Academy Award-winning producer Ed Saxon (“Silence of the Lambs,” “Adaptation”).
Ethan Hawke will play William Phelan, a washed-up Chicago cop turned corporate gun-for-hire who finds himself in a wildly unknown landscape with the assignment of murdering the sole remaining member of an uncontacted Indigenous tribe. “A broken man standing at an unlikely crossroads, Phelan is given the chance to save a life and reclaim his soul,” the synopsis for the movie reads.
Hawke will be joined by Zaya Guarani, an Indigenous Brazilian actress and model born in the Amazon’s Port Velho. The environmental activist, who appears in Darren Aronofsky’s film “Postcard From Earth,” has exploited her status as a fashion model to advance her advocacy work on behalf of Indigenous communities.
Claudio Borrelli (“Vultures”) will direct “The Last of the Tribe,” which is based on the book of the same title by former Washington Post journalist Monte Reel. Its creators describe it as “genuinely global and intensely relevant,” pointing out that the death of the last member of the Tanarus tribe in 2022 provoked global dismay.
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Meirelles’ São Paulo-based O2 Filmes will produce in Brazil, where the film is set. “The Last of the Tribe” is a co-production between Brazil and the United States, produced by Ethan Hawke, Ryan Hawke, and Mickey Schiff of Under the Influence Productions, as well as Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz of Chockstone Pictures (“All the Old Knives,” “The Road”).
What is the Story Behind Ethan Hawke’s Upcoming Film The Last of the Tribe?
The film chronicles the 2022 genocide of the Tanarus tribe, an indigenous people who had sworn to defend the Amazon rainforest. The tribe is situated in the Brazilian Amazon, in the southern region of Rondônia, and Tanarus, the tribe’s visage, valiantly defended his homeland against the white Brazilians. Unfortunately, he passed away after securing victory, as the Brazilian government vowed to safeguard their territory legally.
“A broken man standing at an unlikely crossroads, Phelan is given the opportunity to save a life and reclaim his soul,” reads the official synopsis for the film. Mark Bailey penned the screenplay for the film, which will be directed by Claudio Borrelli, who is widely recognized for his work on The Vultures. In addition to Ed Saxon, who has won an Academy Award, Fernando Meirelle will serve as the show’s primary producer.
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Fernando Meirelle remarked that the significance of this film centering on Brazilian indigenous peoples has increased during a period when the nation is grappling with its most catastrophic disaster. In the midst of the Rio Grande do Sul floods of 2024, it is critical that individuals develop a greater awareness and concern for the environment and the tribal communities hardest affected by these natural disasters.
“As Southern Brazil endures its most catastrophic flooding in history this week, Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, formulates a strategy to conduct oil exploration in the Amazon.” “A film that discusses the precariousness of commercial interests in comparison to the conservation of the largest forest in the world could not be more timely,” Meirelle said, as cited in Variety.
