Sumidouro: Good-Bye River

from Multimedia Library Collection:
Environmental Film Profiles (videos)

Azzi, Chris. Sumidouro: Good-Bye River. Brazil: Camisa Listrada Ltda, 2008. HD, 71 min. https://youtu.be/7VJVAdeuF4g.

The construction of the Irapé Power Plant in the Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, has revolutionized the lives of 42 riverside communities. For the creation of an artificial lake 200 meters deep, 5,000 people had to be relocated leaving behind their homes, their family stories, their dead ones and the river – the center of their day-to-day existence, community life and a source of living for these people, from where they take sand, rock and fish. This documentary film follows their story one year after relocation, showing the gains and losses that have resulted from the sudden change. A new sense of identity seems to have been forged. (Source: Adapted from the Official Film Website)

© 2008 Camisa Listrada Ltda. Trailer used with permission.

This film is available at the Rachel Carson Center Library (RCC, 4th floor, Leopoldstrasse 11a, 80802 Munich) for on-site viewing only. For more information, please contact library@rcc.lmu.de.

About the Environmental Film Profiles collection

Further readings: 
  • Cernea, M. M. "Poverty Risks from Population Displacement in Water Resources Development." Harvard Institute for International Development 355 (1990): 55.
  • McDonald-Wilmsen, Brooke, and Michael Webber. "Dams and Displacement: Raising the Standards and Broadening the Research Agenda." Water Alternatives 3, no. 2 (2010): 142.