Hot Docs 2024: The Outpost Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Hot Docs Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

The Amazon rainforest is the world’s largest, ranging from Brazil and Peru, as well as parts of Colombia. It also touches Ecuador, Guyana, Bolivia, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guiana. Each year, the increasing illegal cattle farming and mineral extraction cause severe damage to the ecosystem. These inadequate actions lead to violence and voluntary firing of its forests with the intent of cleaning the woods and having territory to explore. These wildfires also affect the the communities present. After moving from Scotland to Brazil in 1983, Christopher Clark became an eco-warrior. He aimed to protect the region by building the outpost, a utopian Xixiáu community with infrastructure, health measures, and education. However, the growing number of fires made Clark ask for recognition of the Xixiáu organization, wanting it recognized as a protected federal reserve. In order to raise awareness, he pitched an ambitious idea, a Pink Floyd reunion concert in the middle of the Amazon rainforest.

Directed by Italian director Edoardo Morabito, The Outpost is a co-production between Italy and Brazil. Morabito is not just the director, he’s also the narrator, writer, editor, and cinematographer. All that passion and effort, is evident from the first 15 minutes. Presented as an analysis of a bold idea, it is also a courageous film to shoot. Plenty of scenes are set in the river or on the riverside, which are the most exciting part of that journey. As long as Morabito discovers that place, the public will also.

When it comes to analyzing Clark’s complex personality, Morabito has an unusual approach. Instead of the conventional talking heads style, the audience gets to know the forest guardian through their daily conversations. However, this choice makes the film only develop him as a person in that present moment. It does not deepen how he became that person. This lack of base is clear when the film goes to London where more context is needed on the people shown here. If this were part of another story, it would be a spot-on directorial choice. But, such a complex subject requires a bit more of a build-up.

In the end, The Outpost feels like its subject. It delivers an ambitious take on a dreamer who chose to protect the forest he calls home. But, he never lost his colonizer’s view. Ultimately at its best when focusing on the forest and shows the world Clark lived in, whenever the film moved away, it felt flat. While an interesting and bold take, it was not completely achieved.

still courtesy of Hot Docs

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.