Ecozine Film Festival 2018 – Kuyujani Envenenado (Poisoning Kuyujani)
Ecological mining does not exist.
"To see things as they are, you must change your eyes" Ye'kwana Mythology
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Alexandra Henao
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Because it is necessary for the struggle of the indigenous communities involved, to make known this situation of the Venezuelan jungle.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You must see it because the film can shed light on the crisis that is currently occurring in the Amazon and on the political situation in Venezuela.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Survival, ecocide, genocide, human rights, mining, struggle, military, Venezuela.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
In 2006 I went to the Caura invited by a Yekuana leader to shot their cultural activities, they were concerned about the preservation of their traditions. We were doing a film about their memories.
Already at that time, the indigenous leaders were worried about the invasion of illegal miners who came from Brazil, Colombia and all of Venezuela.
I went back in 2010 to continue with the shooting, which this time included a census that the Yekuana themselves did, but this time the problem of mining was so strong and clear that the issue became the priority of the Yekuana and Sanema communities. They were so busy fighting against mining; the real urgency of their cultural preservation and their survival as peoples.
This is how the documentary appeared and found its purpose.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
People are very surprised because they did not imagine the complexity of the conflict and some myths about the situation of the Venezuelan indigenous people and their struggle for the survival of their culture fall down.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
There are many fixed ideas and stereotypes about indigenous peoples and the political system implemented by Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, a certain public refuses to accept the reality that the documentary shows, they do not get arguments to defend their position.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Knowledge is action. As more people in the world know about the reality of this area of the jungle in Venezuela, it will be better to change the situation and avoid this huge ecocide.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Distributors, directors of film festivals, journalists, from abroad, because the censorship in Venezuela does not allow to show Kuyujani Envenado in the country and it is important that the international community knows more about the reality of the Venezuelan crisis.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
The impact is the information, to the extent that we are informed we are less vulnerable and we can be more active, knowing and being spokespersons of what happens to us is important, knowing who the actors of open-pit mining are in Venezuelan jungle is crucial. Know that the dimension of ecocide that begins in southern Venezuela affects an extension of the size of Portugal, that the affected area is 12% of the national territory and ends with 16 indigenous cultures, cannot leave us indifferent.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Do you know what is happening right now with the lungs of the planet?
Would you like to add anything else?
Yekuana and Sanema peoples are an indigenous culture on the verge of decimation. Yet, they are arduously fighting against it.
Mercury is poisoning and killing these ancestral cultures.
Solving Yekuana and Sanema's problem is on the hands of the ones who have the duty to stop it, but instead, they are profiting from it.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are editing and looking for co-producers, sponsors or support funds, to finance the post-production of a fiction feature film (political drama) shot in Venezuela this last February 2019.
Interview: April 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Kuyujani Envenenado (Poisoning Kuyujani)
Ecological mining does not exist.
"To see things as they are, you must change your eyes" Ye'kwana Mythology
Length: 1:28:00
Director: Alexandra Henao
Producer: Beto Benites
Writer: Alexandra Henao
About the writer, director and producer:
ALEXANDRA HENAO is a graduate of the National Film & TV School (NFTS) in England. There, she culminated the post-graduate degree in Cinematography. She studied screenwriting in the advanced course of the International University Menéndez Pelayo in Spain and she is a graduate in Journalism from the University Andrés Bello in Venezuela (UCAB). Her documentary Kuyujani Envenenado has been recognized as Best Andean Documentary of Documenta 2017, Best Documentary at the VFFNY and Honorable Mention in the Caracas DOC 2016 IMDb
BETO BENITES studied law and political science at the National University of San Marcos in Peru. He was Director of the Department of Theater of the National University of the Center (Peru). He has been a teaching assistant of the Nordisk Teater Skole (Denmark), Founder and General Coordinator of the Latin American Conservatory of Performing Arts. Director-Founder of the theater group Escena de Caracas. As an Executive Producer, he has done features films: Paquete # 3 and Gilma (postproduction) and shorts as: Partir, “Blodimery, La Uva, and Cunaro. IMDb
Key cast: Venezuelan Indigenous communities Yekwana and Sanema, Ramón Tomedes (leader Yekwana).
Looking for: distributors, journalists, sales agents, film festival directors
Hashtags used: #EcologicalMiningDoesNotExist #NoAlArcoMineroDelOrinoco
Website: www.alexandrahenao.net
Other: IMDb