Directed by Taliesin Black-Brown and told by Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat, “I am nature“Poetically the human interconnection with nature through the eyes of the native Achuar people. The short documentary honors the philosophy of a culture whose ancestral countries extend over the modern boundaries of Ecuador and Peru, deep in the Amazon Registration. Nowadays Achuar who still lives in the rainforest and preserves ancestral ways of life.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the government granted oil concessions so that the industry could systematically get closer to Homeland of Achuar. Further expansion and development in the region increased dramatically in the 1960s, initiating contact between the Achuar and the Western world.
Washikiat describes a vision he had as a boy, who predicted that he would travel to the US to learn English. In his journey he observed incredible cultural and social contrasts, such as individualism instead of collectivity, and yet his experiences led the jungle an increasingly deeper understanding that we are all children of the earth.
“I am nature” introduces us inextricably linked to the surrounding environment in a way of life, at the same time dependent on and in harmony with nature. “We live peacefully in a simple way,” says Washikiat. “That’s what we want to share with the world.”
The short film was an official selection at the DOC NYC Documentary Film Festival from 2024 and the 2024 Banff Center Mountain Film Festival, among other things. See it on Vimeo.
