‘It protects us from them’: In new film, Indigenous traditions persist amid loss
2 April 2025<div><p>“What is that smoke for?”</p><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">In a remote Amazonian village, a young boy asks his grandfather why a haze surrounds their home. “It protects us from them, from the invisible beings of the water,” his grandfather replies.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;"></span><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">A new short film, “Lanawaru,” follows the boy as he seeks comfort in the Indigenous traditions, prayers and guidance of his grandfather, whose help is sought after a member of their community disappears.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;"></span><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">The film, produced by Conservation International in partnership with Bezos Earth Fund, debuted at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam late last year, and will begin screening at the Cartagena International Film Festival on April 6.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;"></span><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">Watch the trailer here:</span></p><div data-sf-ec-immutable="" contenteditable="false" style="width:640px;height:350px;display:block;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;" class="-align-center"><div data-sf-disable-link-event=""><iframe width="640" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mEqihmyuIPM?si=3j926T7gDAebGEX7" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;"></span><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">Set in Puerto Caimán, along the Caquetá river in southeastern Colombia, the grandfather communicates with the inhabitants of the forest, including the fearsome “Grandfather Caiman” known as Lanawaru, through sacred healing and protection rituals that are core to the community and maintaining a balanced relationship with nature.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;"></span><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">“Indigenous people of the Amazon have maintained the land for thousands of years,” said Angello Faccini Rueda, the director of the film. “They know they must maintain that sacred balance with nature — it’s what keeps the world in peace. Our goal was to capture the atmosphere of the place, rather than explain it. As the environmental crisis grows, it’s critical to highlight this relationship.”</span></p><p><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;"></span><span style="background-color:initial;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;text-align:inherit;text-transform:inherit;word-spacing:normal;caret-color:auto;white-space:inherit;">Watch the film <a href="https://vimeo.com/993018170/193a3ae2f6" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></p><p><em>Mary Kate McCoy is a staff writer at Conservation International. Want to read more stories like this? <a href="https://www.conservation.org/act/subscribe">Sign up for email updates</a>. Also, <a href="https://www.conservation.org/act">please consider supporting our critical work</a>.</em></p></div>