
The defence of cultures, languages and territories is one of the hallmarks of indigenous communication and cinema, as affirmed by those of us who have been working from a multitude of contexts to assert our right to tell our stories and through them to relate to other peoples and struggles. The capacity to construct other […]
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Film
The Voice of Long Bentuq tells the story of a fight of the indigenous community of Dayak Modang Long Wai, Long Bentuq against plantation corporations that trespassed into their territory. Since 2008 their ancestral land has been encroached by corporations turning it into palm oil plantations. The community have been banned from accessing their land, […]
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Indigenous peoples are the best guardians of the forest; where they have strong rights more forests remain standing and biodiversity is protected. While we are now officially in the Sixth Mass Extinction, World Bank research in 2016 showed that indigenous peoples make up 5% of the world’s population but safeguard 80% of the world’s biodiversity. […]
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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.





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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 -
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 filmBrazilLand RightsParticipatory-made film -
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 filmAncestral KnowledgePeru -
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 SolutionsPeru -
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 -
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 -
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 Changeeducational packsIndigenous 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 Filmakers
2021 Mentee Cohort
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Yaily comes from the region of Guna Yala, Panama. She studied a degree in Sanitation and Environment in the Technological University of…
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Elizabeth Swanson Andi is a member of the Santu Urku Kichwa community on the Napo River in the Ecuadorian Amazon. She is an indigenous …
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Jimmy is an indigenous filmmaker. He was born in the Siekoya Remolino community. He loves to face new challenges, visit new places and …
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Kuyu is a filmmaker in Kuyujani Produccion Audiovisual and belongs to the indigenous people of Yekwana, (State of Bolivar, Venezuela). …
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Yarixa comes from the region of Guna Yala, in the Caribbean coast of Panama. She was born and raised in Panama, and is currently studyi…
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Alcibiades is a facilitator, photographer and amateur filmmaker specialized in environmental storytelling. He is a member of the …
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Yumi Ortiz (also known as Lyudmila Vallarino) comes from the region of Guna Yala, in the Caribbean coast of Panama. Yumi is a student…
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Jose was born in 1994 in the community of Carmelita, San Andrés, Peten, Guatemala, located in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. He graduated…
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Nazario Tiul Choc is from a community known as Cooperativa Unión Maya Itzá (a community that was repatriated from Mexico to Guatemala…
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Ribaldo is a young Siekopai photographer and filmmaker. He lives in the Ecuadorion Amazon and is a member of the NGO Alianza Ceibo, an …
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Luciane Saw Munduruku, more known among her friends and relatives as Beka Munduruku, is 18 years old and lives in Sawre Muybu villag…e.
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Nelson was born in Melchor de Mencos (Peten department) and has lived in the Cooperativa Integral Agropecuaria Técnica Responsabilidad…
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Chris is an indigenous male of the Arecuna Nation in Guyana. He is 32 years old and has been volunteering for the past three years unde…
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Welder is a Guatemalan citizen and resident of the community Cruce a La Colorada, which holds a concession that allows the sustainable …
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Jhonatan a is 21 year old Dayak Kanayatn Youth from Sungai Ambawang, West Kalimantan. He is a Medical student from the Medical Facult…
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Kokoyamaratxi Renan Suya is a photographer, filmmaker and motion graphic maker from the Kisedjê people (Mato Grosso, Brazil). In 2008…
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Carlos is a documentary film maker who lives in the community of Waorani Titepare, in the Amazonian Region of Ecuador. His role involve…
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Edivan Guajajara is from the Zutiwa village, located in Arariboia Indigenous Land (Maranhão, Brazil) and one of the creators of the c…
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Tirza Yanira Ixmucané Saloj Oroxom, Mayan K’iche, born in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. Illustrator, muralist, plastic artist, and audi…
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Kalfein Michael Wuisan or Kale, is an Indigenous Minahasa youth from Wuwuk, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia. Besides involvement in the youth…
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An emerging filmmaker, Gabriela belongs to the Garifuna people and has a background in Honduran indigenous and black peoples’ rights,…r.
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Noveni is Dayak Bahau, an indigenous peoples from East Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo). Since 2017, she has been defending the rights of…
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The journalist and communicator Erisvan Bone Guajajara is founder of the digital platform Mídia Índia. He was born in Lagoa Quieta vi…
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Alexandro lives in Rio Bonito indigenous village, located in Ubatuba, São Paulo, Brazil. Since he was 12, Alexandro has worked within …
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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.