James Cameron will return to Brazil later this year with a 3D camera in tow to once again meet with the Xikrin-Kayapo tribe. Speaking with the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper (via the Herald Sun) Cameron says, “I want to return to meet some of the leaders of the Xikrin-Kayapo tribe who invited me.” Adding, “I want to take a 3D camera to film how they live, their culture.”
The director has already made two visits to Brazil, meeting with the nation’s indigenous peoples, in a show of support as they battle against the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric plant on the Xingu River. Cameron has already shot a short documentary on the subject which will be included on the forthcoming “Avatar” special edition DVD. Cameron says that when he was asked to help “the Brazilian Indians, who were desperate, I could not turn away.”
Yeah, Cameron is a director we like to pick on, but we do give him a thumbs up here for using his “Avatar” clout for some good. A documentary as a special feature on the upcoming “Avatar” disc is certainly a step above and beyond and returning to the region, when he could just as easily write a check or endorse a cause while sitting at home, is a sincere pledge of commitment from the director.
And this isn’t Cameron’s first time meeting with Brazil’s native tribes. He has also met with the Achuar, drawing attention to their struggle against oil drilling near their homelands, raising funds with a screening of “Avatar” with the Achuar in attendance. Even the great Cameron can be humbled, as he recalled the screening earlier this year saying, “A bunch of Achuar were bussed in to watch Avatar at an IMAX theater in 3D. These are people who had never been in a movie theater. They’re wearing feathers and paint. And they put on the glasses and watch ‘Avatar,’ the first movie they’ve ever seen. And when they came out, the BBC interviewed them. This one woman, a tribal elder, says, ‘In this movie, they solved their problems by fighting. We are not afraid to fight, but we have decided to try to solve our problems through dialogue. So this movie needs a better message.’ I felt like I’d been punk’d. But it made me think.”