Project Description
In Damn Ironland we follow the story of the collapse of Dam 1 of the Córrego do Feijão mine near the city of Brumadinho on Jan 25th 2019. It was the biggest industrial disaster in Brazil to date – and is now understood as a crime. It’s toxic mud wave left destruction and left many people missing, some of them still not found two years later. It was not the first of its kind – and could have been prevented. That dam, owned by the world’s biggest iron ore producer Vale, was certified by renown German auditor TÜV Süd just some months before.
In the feature documentary we follow the story of a women coming home to where there is no home anymore and coping with the effect of having no signs of her childhood or past anymore. In the short film the famous Brasilian poet Carlos Drummond, who grew up exactly in this mining region, lets us imagine the impact for the environment and a future in the region that was so far dominated by the mining corporations. In the 360° series we visit affected people and places to witness more of the stories impacted by the dam and its breaking. In the Full Dome Film we revisit the beautiful natural heritage and how the destructive mining is changing more than just the nature. And in the VR Experience we step inside of the destroyed areas, be it in the town or on the broken bridge and we can listen to the stories from the affected people and how the mining corporation Vale acted from day 0 of the Brumadinho disaster until more than 2 years later.
The project consists of a feature documentary, a short film, an 8-part 360° film series, a Full Dome film and an interactive VR Experience.
The feature documentary Ironland premiered at IDFA in section Frontlight in 2021 – see here details and the trailer. All parts of the project have been invited to renown film festivals.
German funding provided by BKM and SLM.