From director Alex Pritz (making his directorial debut after serving as cinematographer on The First Wave) comes the documentary The Territory. Focused on an indigenous leader attempting to protect a region of the Brazilian Amazon, the Nat Geo effort first screened at Sundance to general acclaim.
With a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s scheduled to be released August 19th. Darren Aronfosky serves as one of the producers. I’ve discussed many times on this blog about how Best Documentary Feature is always a tricky category to project. For example, last year’s lauded The Rescue (also from Nat Geo) was surprisingly ignored by the Academy.
The reviews are certainly there for The Territory to mark its space among the contenders. It remains to be seen whether it’s on the minds of voters a few months from now.