The Charcoal People

Jan 20, 2000 1h 4m

7.7

6 votes

Documentary

Synopsis

This deeply human documentary examines the subject of environmental destruction, highlighting the impoverished migrant workers who are chopping down the Amazon rainforest to create charcoal for pig iron production used primarily in the automobile industry. The film examines the children and elders and their daily lives and work as they burn timber in igloo-looking huts, their bodies charred gray for $2 a day, struggling to survive.

Title	The Charcoal People
Companies	Zazen Produções
Countries	Brazil
Keywords	iron, melancholy, amazon rainforest, automobile industry, poverty, ecology, environment, child labor, burlesque, nostalgic, environmental destruction, migrant worker, hopeless, zealous, philosophical, complex, clinical, wistful, critical, ambivalent, baffled, bewildered, bold, celebratory, complicated, cruel, familiar, ghoulish, gloomy, melodramatic