I am the Nature

A poetic perspective on the environment from the Achuar peoples of the Amazon Rainforest.” — Samah Ali DOCNYC

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“Walking between worlds in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Taliesin Black-Brown and Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat explore the tension of technology and nature through the Achuar people.

Living amongst the natural diversity of the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, the Achuar people have established an identity in synergy with the landscape that surrounds them. Occupying a territory that stretches from Ecuador to Peru, and the forests and rivers of the Amazon Basin, the indigenous group inherits the land and responsibility of its ancestors across generations – as natural guardians of the forest, living to protect its biodiversity.

Meeting by chance while visiting the Amazon, filmmaker Taliesin Black-Brown collaborates with Achuar elder Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat for short film I am the Nature. Captured on 16mm film with a 1960s Bolex camera, the poetic documentary illustrates the philosophy and cultural expression of the Achuar people through Chumpí’s observations, reflecting the ever-present tension of technology and nature, between the ‘western world’ and indigenous lifeways.

“Our community inherited the living lands of our ancestors, so we want our kids and future generations to inherit the lands from us. I hope this film has a positive impact on those who watch it because the Amazon has been destroyed all over the world and indigenous people have been treated badly. I wanted to make this film to spread a message that the forest and the Indigenous people are maintaining the entire world alive.”

- Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat

Exploring the themes of walking between worlds, and the unity, empathy and harmony that connects communities across continents, I am the Nature sends a message on reconciling with nature from the Achuar people, through insights from this fragile yet powerful territory, and the importance of transferring knowledge to the next generation.”  — Nowness