Human Faces Behind the Rain Forest 2001
Distributed by First Run/Icarus Films, 32 Court St., 21st Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201; 800-876-1710
Producer n/a
Directed by Mady Sampler
VHS, color, 30 min.
Sr. High - Adult
Ecology, Anthropology, Political Science, South American Studies, Agriculture, Economics, Human Rights, Women's Studies
Date Entered: 11/09/2018
Reviewed by David M. Liberty, StreamNet Library, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish CommissionThe native Paez people in Columbia are undergoing many changes. The force of capitalism and the need to survive has led many villages there to grow and sell opium poppies.
This documentary is a series of statements by individuals from three different communities within the Patayo cultural group. Most express their need to get away from growing poppies and conduct a more legitimate enterprise. One community is in the fish farming business. Another has restored their hand knitting tradition and is attempting to get their finished products on the world market.
These indigenous people are without a land base and are trying to gain recognition and sovereign status from their government. They understand the negative implications of producing raw opium and are exploring new and more legitimate ways to earn money. But, their success is limited by the impacts of herbicides dumped on their land by the United States to eradicate poppies. This video is basically a plea to the world community for aid. One can sense in their faces the strength to overcome adversity and the hope for a better future for their children.
More information about the United States’ involvement would have been interesting. It also would have helped to have contact information for those who wanted to lend assistance.
Highly recommended.