2024 Victoria Film Festival – We Are Guardians

Filmmaker expected to attend
Currents
Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene, Rob Grobman
Brazil, USA | 2023 | 85 min
Documentary

In the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, thousands of people are unlawfully encroaching upon protected lands, devastating centuries-old trees for export, and exploiting rare resources. It’s a critical issue that impacts the entire planet.

In We Are Guardians, we follow indigenous resistance fighters as they struggle to protect their homeland in a variety of ways. It’s a complicated issue for someone like an illegal logger, trapped in a desperate struggle to make ends meet, who sees no alternative means of survival, and a determined landowner, committed to preserving the rich ecosystem within his property, relentlessly seeking answers from local authorities. Through this tapestry of perspectives, we see the economic connections to markets that link goods derived in the Amazon region to consumers around the world.

In the end, is there a glimmer of hope? Can people be taught how to earn a living by saving the forest? Can the exit of Bolsonaro bring new hope? And most importantly, will the Indigenous gain political power? It’s a subject worth everyone’s consideration as this insightful documentary lays out the players and the playing field. – KK