Kickstarter

We made our goal!!!  However there is still time to donate.  Kickstarter will let you donate until July 4th. So Donate what you can, everything will go into the production of this film.  Please make sure you click the green button on the right so that your pledge is counted. 

THE FILM

   Deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle, the story of one of Ecuador’s oldest and most isolated indigenous groups has too long been told by the oil company executives intent on exploiting Huaorani land for profit and the zealous missionaries whose ten commandments forbid such behavior.  Throughout the years, these groups have portrayed the Huaorani as a dangerous and excessively violent tribe of “savage” cannibals highlighting incidents such as the tribe’s massacre of a friendly missionary group in the 1950’s and the tribe’s murder of Texaco oil workers in the early 1980’s. Yet there is more to this story than meets the eye.  This film will offer the Huaorani, on the brink of extinction, one last chance to tell their side of the story before it is lost forever. 

    This documentary captures the latest attempts by multinational oil companies to drill in protected Huaorani territory inside of the Yasuni rainforest reserve.  The film follows Huaorani like Shaman Kemperi, one of the oldest living tribal members who explains the Huaorani creation myth and how the gods tasked the Huaorani with “defend(ing) the forest.”  Huaorani tribal leader Penti, the son of warrior Ahua, will tell the story of how the Huaorani have traded their hardwood spears for legal documents in the fight to protect their home and culture from the missionaries, oil companies, and Ecuadorian government initiatives to drill in their ancestral forest.  While another tribal member, Fabian explores the difficult decisions faced by modern Huaorani youth to preserve their cultural traditions and homeland or support their families by accepting work with the oil companies.

     There is more than one side to every story. The tale of the Huaorani is no different.  As we continue to witness the destruction of their homeland in the world’s largest rainforest, it is impossible to ignore how our own fate is linked to theirs.         

THE PLAN

In July, filmmaker Raul Paz Pastrana will delve into the Amazon jungle armed with a modest $2,500 grant from the School of Visual Arts and a bottle of malaria pills to complete his thesis film.  His mission will be to determine who the true “savages” of the Oriente are: Are the Huaorani the true savages of the Oriente, or are there more sinister savages lurking in the shadows of the Amazon?

WHAT WILL DONATIONS BE USED FOR?

Your donation will ensure that this film gets made!  I have gained access to the traditional Amazonian Huaorani community of Bameno, and also to oil company territory (almost impossible to gain access to.)  Funding will be used to cover the costs of filming in the field in addition to covering post production costs.  

OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP

Please help us to spread the word about this important project by becoming a fan on facebook and sharing this link with others in your network!

TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS

Donations made on Kickstarter are not tax deductible.  If you would like to make a tax exempt donation, please do so by mailing a check made out  to "Village Earth" to Village Earth PO Box 797 Fort Collins, Colorado 80522 with "Raul thesis: Huaorani the Movie" written in the memo line.  

Village Earth is a 501 C3 non-profit, which works with indigenous communities around the world.  Click here to find out more about Village Earth.