Guardians of pachamama
An indigenous documentary
In 2022 I went to Ecuador to meet up with the founder of Heartspace, who was studying the indigenous tribes there and the effect oil companies were having on their way of life.
Over the course of two months our team of five built up relations between us and members of the Woarani tribe and dug deep into the long-term effects of the pollution and destruction omf their land.
During this two months we also worked to raise the money necessary to travel deep into the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon and self-funded the entire documentary.
My role in this documentary involved the technical and creative aspect of the production; directing, shooting, writing and editing.
Teaser trailer
The teaser trailer which we released through media company “Lovin’ Malta” in the lead up the the premiere on July the 29th.
Official trailer
Here is the official trailer for the project which we also released through the media company “Lovin’ Malta” in the lead up to the premiere.
snippet
The finished documentary is currently doing the festival rounds, shortlisted for multiple awards, so I can’t release the full thing yet.
But this is my website, this is an independent documentary we self-funded, and I’ll be damned if I’m not going to put a clip on here.
If any industry people have found their way here and want me to send a copy of the documentary over, just get in touch.
Fundrasing trailer
Upon working out the expenses that would be required for us to be able to make this project and began an online fundraiser. I made a trailer for the project in under a day and we began to promote the project through social media and media outlets.
The fundraiser was a success, raising £2,319.
Bonus
While fundraising there was nothing we wouldn’t do to fill up the pot a little more.
As a bunch of early twenties out in South America there was one way of raising money which I think we were all born to do - party.
We set up a party at the hostel I was volunteering in. $7 a head, all you can drink and spent the day giving flyers to everyone we could see.
We bought around 60 bottles spirits at $3 a bottle, ice, soft drinks and lo and behold the party was away.
This ended up being a moderate success, making us around $700 for the evening of debauchery. Who would’ve thought a load of young people abroad at a beachside party town would be so enthusiastic about our documentary (and I guess the cheap booze).