Completed - BRAZILIAN-PORTUGUESE, ENGLISH-UNITED STATES - Social issues, Documentary - 82 minutes
The saga of the “rubber soldiers” —20 century slaves & forgotten war heroes.
Year of production : 2019 Director(s) : Wolney OLIVEIRA Writer(s) : Wolney OLIVEIRA, Margarita HERNANDEZ Producer(s) : Wolney OLIVEIRA (CORTE SECO FILMES), Margarita HERNANDEZ (BUCANERO FILMES)
The “rubber soldiers” program was part of a Brazil-United States Agreement during World War II. About 60,000 men were compulsorily drafted from drought-ridden Brazilian northeast to harvest rubber in the Amazon rainforest to guarantee the supply of rubber, critical to the Allied war effort. For most of them, it was a one-way journey. Almost 50% of all “rubber soldiers” died in the rainforest. More than 60 years after the war ended, a few hundreds of survivors remain, most of them still living in the Amazon. Elderly and frail, they are fighting against time and indifference to gain the historical recognition and financial compensation they believe should be theirs.
Country(ies) : BRAZIL
E Tudo Verdade 2019 (Official Selection)Havana Film Festival 2019 (Documentary Competition)