The climax of Ultima Floresta is not a battle, but a sickness. The film documents the arrival of COVID-19 among the Yanomami, a genocide accelerated by Bolsonaro-era policies that encouraged miners to invade indigenous lands. For the Yanomami, the virus was not just a biological threat; it was a physical manifestation of the "white man's demon" —the ultimate proof that the forest was ending.
However, its status as a "last" forest implies its vulnerability. Recent decades have seen catastrophic levels of deforestation driven by cattle ranching, soybean agriculture, and illegal mining. The Amazon is currently teetering on the edge of a "tipping point." Scientists warn that if 20% to 25% of the forest is lost, it could irreversibly transform into a degraded savannah. The implications of this shift are global. The "Flying Rivers"—massive aerial currents of water vapor generated by the trees that bring rain to the agricultural heartlands of South America—would dissipate. Droughts would intensify, and the carbon sequestered within the trees would be released into the atmosphere, accelerating the climate crisis at an unprecedented rate. ultima floresta
Davi Kopenawa, a prominent Yanomami shaman and activist. The climax of Ultima Floresta is not a