Isolated tribe resists all contact with outsiders in the Peruvian Amazon (Full Documentary)

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 18:39:30 +0000

A century ago, the people of the Mashco Piro fled deep into the Peruvian Amazon to escape the cruelty of colonialists. They entered an isolation they haven’t abandoned to this day. The film turns around in front of the forest and looks back at those who want to contact the isolated Mashco Piro: missionaires, miners and villagers, who all feel it is their right to decide on the Mashco Piro’s fate. Only a group of anthropologists stands between them and the Mashco Piro. When a murder happens, Carl Gierstorfer is there to document and let the story carry itself.

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Chapters
▷ 0:00 - Intro
▷ 00:45 - The River Between Us
▷ 00:45 - Credits

#rainforest #Amazonforest #indigenous #documentary #amazon
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Until a decade ago, little was known about this people of the Peruvian Amazon; there were only random encounters with boat travelers and a few pictures taken by light aircrafts on overflights. But then - for reasons that still are mysterious - the Mashco Piro made themselves known to park rangers and indigenous settlements, many of which lie directly on the opposite bank of the Madre de Dios river. These settlements are fully connected to the modern world with mobile phone, satellite TV connection and villagers that have seen big cities and other countries.
Only a group of anthropologists working for Peru’s Ministry of Culture protect the isolated Mashco Piro from outside forces, who are pushing to contact and infiltrate their territory of pristine rainforest. Some believe the Mashco Piro want to be part of the modern world, while others want to take over their lands to cut timber, mine for gold or smuggle cocaine. And while the Mashco Piro are totally unaware of the riches they sit on and the power-struggles they have provoked, they themselves have shown an increasing curiosity about the outside world. They try to stop passing boats, asking for ‘things’ – some of apparent symbolic importance like shirts and life-vest, other of practical use like knives and machetes. Sometimes, their interactions with the outside world have been violent.

In 2015, they killed a 15-year-old boy in native community, and in 2018 a 74-year old villager, who entered their territory to go fishing. Both murders left the communities feeling helpless and afraid. There were angry calls for revenge, accusations against the anthropologists and campaigns to contact the Mashco Piro. Few wanted to acknowledge that “contact” is a process that almost inevitably ends with disease, death and the loss of identity for the contacted, a questions this film will explore.

Original title: The River Between Us
Directed by Carl Gierstorfer
2021 © Licensed by First Hand Films

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