Director of Avatar asks Lula reconsider the project of Belo Monte
Addressing the International Forum on Sustainability in Manaus as special guest, James Cameron, director of the block buster movie Avatar, entered the controversy over the construction of the huge hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River and asked the Brazilian president to reconsider the project. His movie Avatar features a strong environmental appeal, that many understand to be similar to the situation of the indigenous of the Amazone.
James Cameron, director of the film “Avatar” asked President Lula to reconsider the Belo Monte hydroelectric project, in Pará. Belo Monte is planned to become the third biggest hydroelectric in the world, creating enormous environmental and social impacts.
In a lecture at the International Forum for Sustainability, in Manaus, Cameron said that the environmental and social impacts of the hydroelectric need to be prioritized by the Brazilian government. "I beg President Lula to reconsider," said Cameron, who learned of the plant by reports of Amazon Watch. "I’ve been in Brazil for 24 hours. But I will personally go to the region to better understand the project”, said Cameron, who said he was not an activist, but an artist concerned with "mother nature".
The director of Avatar argued that there is a disconnect between the economy and the environment. He said that rapid growth has become the most important value to humanity, even if it results in the degradation of soil, rivers, oceans and trees. "It’s time for the world to wake up and start a green revolution," said Cameron.
Background
In the opinion of Cameron, most harmful is the denial of global warming and the deterioration of the environment and natural resources caused by man.
He explained that Avatar was made to combat the denial of these problems. "We created a visceral and emotional appeal to address the excessive exploitation of nature," he said. "Our intention is that by the end of the film, viewers feel like part of the people Na’Vi and like defenders of that planet."
Avatar brings the story of the confrontation of an indigenous people called Na´Vi living in harmony on a planet with a mankind space mission with the intend to exploit a certain rare mineral found on that planet. The Na´Vi revolt against this mindless exploitation.
Film shooting
As soon as he began his talk to the 560 executives and entrepreneurs, Cameron stressed that he never thought to shoot Avatar in the Amazon. A proposal that came from the governor of the state of Amazonas, Eduardo Braga. "This would have caused a great impact on the forest," he said. "Avatar did not bring down a single leaf for its shooting because it was made entirely in the studio and with computer graphics." He added that Avatar 2 will show the ocean and tropical forest. Like Avatar I, everything will be filmed in the studio. The Canadian director, who has 30 years of residence in the United States, said he would accept filming a documentary in Brazil about the forest, but not a fiction film. "You do not want me to drag the team and trucks and equipment to the middle of the forest, do you?!"
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