Chico, the Man

While Hollywood heavyweights battle for the right to film the story of Chico Mendes, martyred defender of Brazil’s disappearing rain forests, a small company in Berkeley will probably get to the big screen early next year with a documentary on the subject.

The nonprofit Amazonia Film Project is now in post-production on “Amazonia: Voices From the Rain Forest,” which associate producer Kevin Pina calls the “first feature-length documentary ever produced on the Amazon rain forests.” Included is an interview with Mendes that “personalizes the issue.”

Point of view: The people who live in the rain forests are the best line of defense against their destruction.

The film makers did not get involved in Hollywood’s race for dramatic rights when Mendes, former president of Brazil’s National Council of Rubbertappers, was slain in December, 1988.

“We knew what we had and its value, and we had the support of his wife and indigenous organizations,” Pena said. “So we stayed out (of the controversy).”

Now the Film Project is lining up sponsors for a Dec. 7 benefit for the film at the Santa Monica Museum of Flying. Ed Asner, Kris Kristofferson and singer Don Henley are among those committed.