Indigenous Guardians of the Amazon Rainforest
It's more than just the rainforest... it's their way of life
I recently had the opportunity to watch an early screening of the environmental documentary, We Are Guardians. The 80-minute film follows indigenous forest guardians and their political activist coalition in the fight against global corporations as the Amazon Rainforest is deforested beyond the point of no return. Despite implementing political protections from the Brazilian government and naming the region an ‘ecological sanctuary’, international companies have illegally contracted with impoverished loggers to build a 3,000 labor town with 250+ sawmills in the middle of the indigenous peoples’ lands.
The story describes how these companies exploit vulnerable and impoverished loggers and harvesters to extract trees and fruits from the ecological sanctuary, while the government turns the other cheek and fosters farming and residential growth that surround and encroach on the protected lands. Most of the companies are either Chinese or American, with American companies bankrolling much of the capital to farm the forests.
As if deforestation isn’t enough, the companies then burn the land to turn it into farmland. The deforestation wrecks havoc on the carbon and oxygen cycle in our atmosphere, and is further amplified by the massive intentional burns. Then, the forest and the Earth never get a chance to recapture that carbon and turn it into oxygen, as the land becomes a savanna for farming and agriculture.
Cattle ranching adds another injury to the land and the air, as it accounts for 80% of the deforestation and adds methane and carbon into the atmosphere through its production and cattle.
In the most literal sense, global agriculture is scalping, burning, and reaping ecosystems that are critical for our entire Earth’s atmosphere, and the first victims in this horrific saga are the indigenous people who have lived and thrived in the area for generations. In less than 50 years, 20% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed, and 33% of the world’s rainforests have been degraded. We are emitting more carbon than what our planet can absorb.
This is a high-quality film that tells the complexity, nuance, and heroism of the Amazon indigenous people. I highly recommend it and hope you can see it on the big screen. See the official movie information below with a list of screenings.
We Are Guardians is a powerful, character-driven documentary following Indigenous forest guardians in Brazil as they confront the forces driving deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest.
Directed by Edivan Guajajara, Chelsea Greene, and Rob Grobman—and executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio—the film offers a rare, intimate perspective on one of the most critical ecological and human rights crises of our time. Watch the trailer here.
Kicking off with a premiere in Los Angeles on June 6, We Are Guardians is launching a North American theatrical tour to bring the film to more than 50 cities from June-August – including LA, SF, NYC, DC, and more!
Experience the beauty of the Amazon Rainforest on the big screen and join the film team for a Q&A discussion, including Indigenous leaders from Brazil – co-director Edivan Guajajara and featured guardian and political leader Puyr Tembé.
See if your town is playing the film here.