Indigenous Kichwa community of the Pastaza province in the Amazon have been fighting the construction of a hydroelectric dam that will have a serious impact on the Piatúa river and the communities that live on its banks. It is also recognised as one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet.
This documentary, from indigenous filmmakers Tawna, tracks the fight and ongoing legal defence of the Piatúa river against corporation GENEFRAN. From violating the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent and the arrest of a presiding judge on the case, ruling in favour of construction, who was found to be receiving a bribe of $40 000 in cash and two bottles of whiskey.
“This sentence is an important milestone in the construction of the paradigm of the rights of nature in Ecuador.”
GENEFRAN’s machinery is still on Kichwa ancestral territory – so the fight continues.