Along the Lawa River, which marks the border between Suriname and French Guiana, the Wayana people live in a landscape shaped by deep history as well as ongoing intrusion. Parasisi, a title drawn from the Wayana word for “parasite” or “intruder,” unfolds as a quiet, lyrical portrait of life in this community, where the historical and continued presences of outsiders leave their marks in ways both visible and not. Illegal gold mining contaminates the land with mercury, exposing how centuries-old extractive logics remain embedded in the present; missionaries bring unfamiliar and sometimes absurd traditions that threaten to suppress Indigenous identities; and medical systems shape how illness and care unfold. With a tender, restrained camera, directors Zaïde Bil and Sébastien Segers observe how the subtle violences of these interventions ripple through the daily lives of families living along the river. Beautifully shot in luminous black and white, the film is a searing reflection on how colonial legacies persist, etched into lands and bodies. Carmen Thompson
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