
Os povos indígenas são os melhores guardiões da floresta; onde eles possuem direitos bem estabelecidos, há mais florestas preservadas e biodiversidade protegida. Em uma época em que já vivemos oficialmente a sexta extinção em massa, uma pesquisa de 2016 elaborada pelo Banco Mundial demonstrou que os povos indígenas representam apenas 5% da população do planeta, […]
-
Film
“Se não nós, quem vai proteger nossos territórios? Quem vai administrar nossos territórios? Jovens indígenas da Indonésia chamam seus irmãos que vivem nas cidades e terminaram seus estudos a voltarem para suas comunidades de origem. Eles chamam esse movimento de Homecoming [Volta para casa]. Os jovens estão elaborando novos modelos de desenvolvimento rural sustentável, criando […]
-
Storytellers
This is the first part of four blog series about “Stockholm+50 Experience Diary”, written by Elizabeth Swanson Andi. She is an indigenous impact storyteller, photographer, and part of the INUTW team. Learn more about her experience during the event Stockholm+50, held on the 2nd and 3rd of June, 2022. I remember his voice “kawsak sacha, […]
-
Profile
My name is Leo Cerda from the Kichwa community of Serena in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I consider myself to be a climate activist and indig…
If Not Us Then Who? highlights the role indigenous and local peoples play in protecting our planet; we work in partnership with communities to make films, take photographs, curate content, commission local artists and host events.





Watch films
-
Film6:35 mins
Having lived for millennia in the forests of the ‘Amazonian Trapezoid’, today the Amacayacu National Park, indigenous communities there are now treated as an obstacle to conservation. Their rights have been systematically violated since the National Park was created in 1975. In April 2015 the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism signed an agreement to […]
Watch filmBiodiversitycolombiaLand Rights -
Film6:04 mins
The community of Lago do Mainá have lived with the forest and the river, nature for them is the most fundamental thing they have. However a military training base and increasing incursions by soldiers created tension between the community and the army. Through the use of social mapping the people of Lago do Mainá have […]
Watch filmBrazilIndonesiaLand Rights -
Film7:22 mins
The indigenous people of Sungai Utik, a Dayak Iban community in West Kalimantan, Indonesia, have maintained a strong traditional connection to their forests despite continuous pressure from logging and palm oil companies intent on taking their land. Their forests remain intact and their traditional values are keeping their community together. If we want to keep […]
Watch filmClimate ChangeIndigenous SolutionsIndonesia -
Film8:47 mins
Wildfires may grab headlines but indigenous peoples and local communities who depend the Amazon face many different threats. Not only are their territories targeted for illegal extractive activities such as gold mining and deforestation but without clear land titles their situation remains legally precarious. But more than this – indigenous peoples and local communities offer […]
Watch filmUncategorizedUncategorized -
Film8:20 mins
“Se não nós, quem vai proteger nossos territórios? Quem vai administrar nossos territórios? Jovens indígenas da Indonésia chamam seus irmãos que vivem nas cidades e terminaram seus estudos a voltarem para suas comunidades de origem. Eles chamam esse movimento de Homecoming [Volta para casa]. Os jovens estão elaborando novos modelos de desenvolvimento rural sustentável, criando […]
Watch film -
Film10:34 mins
After the Highland Clearances in the 18th and 19th centuries, where communities were expelled from their lands in favour of sheep, legislation was brought in to give people secure tenancies, called crofts, to protect them from being cleared from the land again. In 2007 the Crofting Reform Act opened up the traditional crofting model to […]
Watch filmLand Rights -
Film8:42 mins
Update: April 2021 The Dutch National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines announced on April 20, 2021 that they would accept a complaint against Pluspetrol, a multinational oil firm headquartered in an Amsterdam mailbox. The decision gives Indigenous communities in the oil fields of the Peruvian Amazon a path for seeking remediation from Pluspetrol for […]
Watch filmActivismBiodiversityFighting Big Corporations -
Film5:58 mins
Results of a new scientific study show that indigenous peoples using remote sensing technology can better survey their lands and reduce deforestation by half. Under the community-based forest monitoring program, called Rainforest Alert, indigenous scouts combine satellite imagery with foot patrols to verify evidence and equip community leaders with the information they need to take […]
Watch filmIndigenous SolutionsUncategorized -
Film7:49 mins
In a rapidly dwindling community forest the people of Pandumaan & Sipituhuta have put up a strong fight to stop the growth of monoculture eucalyptus plantations. But the aggressive actions of the company & its close alignment with local politicians & the police have led this struggle down a dark path – protests, intimidation, arrests […]
Watch filmActivismFighting Big CorporationsIndonesia -
Film6:32 mins
Imagine communities and land-owners being paid by the government to protect their forests & natural resources? Costa Rica is the only tropical country in the world that has reversed the process of deforestation through a unique fuel tax law that impresses the importance of protecting the environment & helping develop communities.
Watch filmBiodiversityCosta RicaIndigenous Solutions
Capacity Building
Since 2013 If Not Us Then Who? has been connecting with and amplifying communicators from across the tropical forests regions.
Vibrant Indigenous film production supports
Cultural resilience and resistance
Record ancestral knowledge and raise pride and profile of indigenous communities
Defence of Indigenous territories and rights
Digital storytelling enables injustices and incursions to be denounced to the world and catalyse action against them
Building solidarity
Sharing stories and solutions across greater distances than ever before
Biodiversity
Indigenous peoples are guardians of 80% of the world’s biodiversity and strong Indigenous land rights have been recognised as an important climate solution
Emerging Filmmakers
2021 Mentee Cohort
-
Profile
Kalfein Michael Wuisan — ou Kale — é um jovem indígena minahasa de Wuwuk, Celebes Setentrional, Indonésia. Além de seu envol…G.
View profile -
Profile
Erisvan é um liderança jovem e jornalista do povo Guajajara no Maranhão, Brasil. Atua no movimento indígena desde 2010, dentro de o…
View profile -
Profile
Edivan Guajajara é da aldeia Zutiwa, Terra Indígena Arariboia-MA, um dos criadores da Mídia Índia, ativista indígena levando a fot…
View profile -
Profile
Tirza Yanira Ixmucané Saloj Oroxom, Maya k’iche, nascida em Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Ilustradora, muralista, artista plástica e r…
View profile -
Profile
Jhonatan Yuditya Pratama é um jovem dayak kanayatn de 21 anos de Sungai Ambawang (Kalimantan Ocidental, Indonésia). Ele estuda n…s.
View profile -
Profile
Carlos Enqueri é documentarista e mora na comunidade Waorani “Titepare”, na Amazônia equatoriana. Ele se dedica a difundi…
View profile -
Profile
Yaily Castillo é originária da comarca Guna Yala, Panamá, licenciada em Saneamento e Ambiente pela Universidade Tecnológica do Pana…
View profile -
Profile
Yarixa Torres é originária da comarca Guna Yala, na costa caribenha do Panamá. Nasceu e cresceu no Panamá e, atualmente, estuda Lic…
View profile -
Profile
Alcibiades Rodriguez é facilitador, fotógrafo e cineasta aficionado que conta histórias com temas ambientais. É membro da ONG indí…
View profile -
Profile
Lyudmila Vallarino é originária da comarca de Guna Yala, na costa caribenha do Panamá. Em 2021, está cursando seu último ano de Li…
View profile -
Profile
Jose Hernandez Zapata nasceu em 1994 na comunidade de Carmelita, San Andrés, Petén, Guatemala, localizada dentro da Reserva da Biosfe…
View profile -
Profile
Nazario Tiul Choc é da comunidade conhecida como Cooperativa Unión Maya Itzá (uma comunidade que foi repatriada do México para a Gu…
View profile -
Profile
Nelson Danilo Flores Guzmán nasceu em Melchor de Mencos, departamento de Petén, e vive na Cooperativa Integral Agropecuária Técnica…
View profile -
Profile
Welder Ramirez, 28 anos, tem nacionalidade guatemalteca e reside na comunidade chamada Cruce a La Colorada, na qual existe uma concess�…
View profile -
Profile
Chris Elliman é um indígena da nação arecuna (Guiana). Com 32 anos de idade, ele atua há três anos como voluntário na Associaç�…
View profile -
Profile
Luciane Saw Munduruku, mais conhecida entre seus amigos e parentes por Beka Munduruku, tem 18 anos e mora na aldeia Sawre Muybu da Terr…
View profile -
Profile
Kokoyamaratxi Renan Suya é fotógrafo, cineasta e motion graphics do povo Kisedjê (Mato Grosso – Brasil). Em 2008, participou d…
View profile -
Profile
Alexandro Guarani mora na aldeia indígena Rio Bonito, localizada em Ubatuba, São Paulo (Brasil). Desde os 12 anos, vem trabalhando no…
View profile -
Profile
Jimmy Piaguaje é um cineasta indígena. Ele nasceu na comunidade de Siekoya Remolino. Jimmy adora enfrentar novos desafios e conhecer …
View profile -
Profile
Cineasta emergente, pertencente ao vilarejo de Garifuna, com formação em temas de direitos dos povos indígenas e negros de Honduras,…
View profile -
Profile
Noveni é dayak bahau, um povo indígena de Kalimantan Ocidental (Bornéu indonésio). Desde 2017, ela defende os direitos de comunidad…
View profile -
Profile
Nixon Danny Andy Narvaez nació en la comunidad A’i Kofan de Sinangoe, territorio sagrado y ancestral ubicado en la Amazonía Ecuator…
View profile -
Profile
Kuyu Saul Lopez es realizador audiovisual en Kuyujani Produccion Audiovisual. Licenciado en Comunicación Social, con especialidad Audi…a.
View profile -
Profile
Elizabeth Swanson Andi is a member of the Santu Urku Kichwa community on the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is an indigenous …
View profile
With this dialogue of knowledge, we hope to continue honouring our ancestors by practising the gift of storytelling, rethinking and strengthening our own identity
David Hernández Palmar | Wayuu IIPUANA
Partnerships
If Not Us Then Who? works with indigenous networks and NGOs to deliver strategic communications and capacity building.
Indigenous & Community-Made Films
-
Film6:28 mins
Sickness regularly struck a family in the Dayak Iban community of Sungai Utik in West Kalimantan. After speaking to the local shaman the community made ‘bedara’ an offering and pardoning ritual to divert the spirit path that ran beneath the family’s house that was making them sick. Apai Gajah talks us through the different steps […]
Watch filmCultureIndigenous Made FilmIndonesia -
Film13:42 minsWatch filmBrazilBrazilIndigenous Made Film
-
Film10:09 mins
For centuries, the Sapara people of the Ecuadorian Amazon made their clothes from the resistant and natural fabric that the forest grows for them. As people have become more used to commercial clothing, this tradition has been increasingly neglected. By stripping the bark from the tree and beating it to soften the fibres, they tame […]
Watch filmCultureIndigenous Made FilmIndigenous Solutions -
Film10:55 mins
Young indigenous leaders are mobilising, from Guatemala to Brazil. Youth members of the AMPB and COICA travelled to the village of Itapicuru of the Xakriaba people for a cultural exchange. They share stories and struggles, from religion to water, education to culture identifying similar themes despite the distance in geography.
Watch filmActivismBrazilBrazil -
Film5:34 mins
Less and less Embera youth are using their native language. Embera language is crucial to their identity. Embera elders ask “Who are you if you do not speak Embera?’ Film by Norlando Meza, Genesis Barsallo and Christina Mezua Produced during the youth training workshop in Panama August 2018
Watch filmCultureIndigenous Made FilmPanama