JURUÁ

Deep in the western Amazon, where the Juruá River winds through one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth, communities live in rhythm with the forest. Along its banks, families harvest food from the landscape, travel by river, and rely on traditions that have sustained life here for generations.

JURUÁ is an intimate documentary exploring the lives of these river communities and the fragile balance between rainforest stewardship and economic survival.

Among the stories emerging from this region is the work of Brazilian chocolate maker Luisa Abram, whose small-batch chocolate company partners with families along the Juruá River to harvest one of the world’s rarest ingredients: wild cacao growing naturally in the Amazon forest.

Unlike plantation cacao, these trees grow wild along remote riverbanks and are gathered by local families using traditional methods. The cacao is fermented and dried within the community before being transformed into chocolate. By paying significantly higher prices for this rare wild cacao, Abram and her partners are helping build a forest-based economy—one that rewards protecting the rainforest rather than clearing it.

At the same time, communities are expanding the future of cacao through Sustainable Agroforestry Systems (SAFs)—planting cacao alongside native forest species in diverse, living landscapes. These systems help make cacao harvests more reliable while restoring areas that were previously cleared, allowing degraded land to gradually return to forest.

Through stories like this, JURUÁ reveals a powerful truth: the future of the rainforest is inseparable from the people who call it home.