Explorer, Activist, and Co-Director Luis Felipe Fernández-Salvador y Campodónico Discusses the Vital New Documentary WAORANI: Omede Beye Ante Née Adani (Guardians of the Amazon)
Native voices and faces come alive with an immediacy and urgency seldom seen in cinema, in WAORANI: Omede Beye Ante Née Adani (Guardians of the Amazon), the new Oscar-qualifying documentary from co-directors Luisana Carcelén, and Luis Felipe Fernández-Salvador y Campodónico a.k.a. JAMAICANOPROBLEM. While environmental devastation and its survivors represent a recurrent theme in our world, and cries of “Save the rainforest!” have been echoing for years, the humanity, beauty, and relatability of WAORANI set a new standard for direct and immersive understanding of the eponymous people, many of whom still remain unassimilated on their land, the Yasuní, within what we call Ecuador.
In the short time since its release, WAORANI has been performing well on the international film-festival circuit, including winning its category at the Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival. Its depiction of rainforest destruction, while harrowing, is outshone by its portraiture of the titular tribe, who live in an astounding state of harmony with their endangered environment. Meanwhile, 560 miles offshore in the Galápagos where he’s filming his exciting new project, director Luis Felipe Fernández-Salvador y Campodónico — who also goes by JAMAICANOPROBLEM; hereafter Fernández-Salvador — takes a few minutes to discuss WAORANI with me.
While the reasons for making WAORANI are self-evident, I ask Fernández-Salvador about the evolution of the project, to reveal the culture of its people.
“The film is evolving, as you watch it,” the director explains. “It was an ongoing social experiment for them, because they looked at archival footage while we were shooting the film. And while shooting their interviews, they also looked at themselves through the angle of filmmaking. They were reflecting on the idea of being registered on a cinematic piece where they would have the opportunity to see themselves many times.
“Helping them to narrate their own story, and their cosmovision, the way they perceive their world, was challenging. But it was also, anthropologically, a very interesting experience, for them and for us: Because the WAORANI do not read and write their own language, a lot of communication had to happen verbally through a translator. The film had to be directed in a way for it to be emotionally driven to the public, in this case their own people. It was a collaborative effort, which led us to an understanding.”
WAORANI is magnificent. It will hit you where they live. How much did the subjects discuss their intentions to make their story — and strife — known to the world?
“Not much, but there’s been interest in them. Leonardo DiCaprio wanted to help the Yasuní. But it’s very difficult to have an understanding with Waorani, because the way they see the world is very different. A lot of governments and people have taken advantage of them, so they’re always very defensive, and not very open. It was just a matter of time, and took some gestures to create a small opening of trust, to lure them into the idea of producing a movie of their own, for their own people — with my help, with the help of my co-director Luisana, and everybody else who was involved in making this film.”
At the mention of trust, I ask Fernández-Salvador how they established the onscreen rapport, the intimacy, prevalent throughout WAORANI.
“First of all, it was because they’re women, and my co-director is a woman. They’re almost like a matriarchal colony. And since women are the main characters in this film, that was a gate opener. Furthermore, we were not coming to them for exploitation, we didn’t want to take advantage of them, we weren’t even making a film in a different language. And because they know that they’re the only ones speaking that language, they realised that the narration was all about them, and for them.”
WAORANI concerns an ostensibly simple conflict, but it’s composed of complex individual stories, so I ask about putting structure to that, within a 36-minute film.
“There are different approaches. My way to find the truth is by being able to feel and see the way they see, or at least to be a medium for that. The film portrays the way they see the world and their existence, and their history. Every time they describe their life, they use examples of insects, animals, plants. They hardly ever talk in first person. That’s already a very interesting point of view to explore, so I decided to embark on a visual journey that will express that, too.”
“Biodiversity” seems a terribly scientific word, but indeed, every bird, insect, monkey, and river dolphin comes across onscreen. WAORANI is a you-are-there experience. I’m also curious about how the filmmakers managed to follow the men on their hunting trips. With cameras.
“Well, I come from a family of explorers, fifth generation. I’ve been exploring the Amazon and the Andes since I remember, 27 years now,” Fernández-Salvador smiles. “So I’m very familiar with that. I’ve been shooting in very hostile places before, so for me, that was not something too new. It was more about the journey of exploring the way they think, the way they feel, the way they perceive the world, that really captivated me.
“But of course, these hunts are very exciting in terms of the way they know the jungle, the way they communicate with animals. And the way even animals know that they’re part of a cycle of life. And they respect these animals, even though they kill them. They respect them, they pay tribute to them, when they do take their lives. And that’s a very honorable thing.”
Significantly less honorable are the film’s bad guys, invasive central-casting corporate raiders chasing oil. How did the filmmakers get close enough to video them? On this matter, and by extension, the director has much to say:
“Getting archived footage is difficult. Getting into a jungle, I wouldn’t say is too difficult. It’s dangerous, but it’s not difficult. Nobody really cares, and they don’t think these people or anybody will defy the corporate powers behind their interests or profits. This movie managed to make an impact on the vote that happened in the country earlier this year [spoiler: just as WAORANI was completed, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador ruled in favor of the Waorani people] which was pushed by the corporate powers to exploit the oil that lies below this Yasuní territory — which is only protected by these few people that are still alive in the Waorani tribe, who are slowly being poisoned through the water in their rivers.
“We managed to make an impact on this vote. The awareness of the people in Ecuador was raised, because influential people from Hollywood sent messages after watching the film saying, ‘Guys, you have to take care of this, not for just you, but for us, for our children, because it’s the last Eden on Earth.’ And it really made an impact! That’s why I think now that there’s sufficient attention for this movie and the people that produced it, in this case, the Waorani people of the Amazon: Why not an Oscar nomination that could potentially put them in such a visible place, where the awareness of the international community will be raised and the corporations and the governments in charge will be under a lot of pressure when trying to keep sabotaging these votes.”
Indeed, Hollywood is showing interest. Quoth Ridley Scott: “The Waorani documentary is an impressive introspection into the cosmovision of the Waorani tribe, defenders of the last Eden on Earth, called Yasuní.” And quoth Oscar-winning producer Adam Leipzig (March of the Penguins, also producing Fernández-Salvador’s new film, Lions of the Sea): “As poetic as it is powerful. A must-see for everyone who cares about our planet.”
As a lifelong devotee of Jacques Cousteau (“The reason I went into filmmaking was because of him”), and from a family of explorers, based in Ecuador, Fernández-Salvador seemed destined to make WAORANI — however he didn’t stop there, promptly heading off to Belgium to premiere the film for the EU Parliament, where it was very well received. He reflects:
“I told them that it was very important to give this stage to these people. We even brought one of the Waorani to Brussels. I remarked that it is very important that it is the obligation of political structures to take control of the situations and preserve this last Eden of the planet, instead of being controlled by the big industries.
“It was my mission to tell the story of these women soldiers of the ‘Last Eden on Earth,’ fighting against globalisation, which is killing them slowly. The sad truth is that there used to be a couple thousand of them, and now they’re below five hundred. How to fight against corpocratic powers eradicating them, in a place that nobody can call the police, right?”
With WAORANI, for the Waorani and their land, Fernández-Salvador focuses his mission:
“It is my goal to show this piece of work and this moving story to as many eyes as possible in the documentary world and the Academy members. I promised the Waorani people that I’ll do everything in my power to get them a world stage, in the biggest media outlet, for them to gain the attention they deserve.”
This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
Images courtesy of Fundación Identidad Nacional
