A special documentary screening of 'MIWENE' and Q&A with filmmaker Keith Heyward
Steeped in the long oral tradition of Waorani storytelling and told over 11 years of filming, Anita Yeti shares her own coming-of-age story as a young Waorani woman living deep within the Amazon rainforest -- determined to capture her grandmother’s unique experience while she still can.
Synopsis:
Shot over ten years within a remote indigenous community in the Amazon, Anita Yeti shares her journey from a quiet teenager into a confident young mother at a critical turning point for her culture and rainforest. Steeped in the long oral tradition of Waorani storytelling, Anita narrates her own story, giving an intimate account of her life as a young Waorani women in a rapidly shifting world. As the granddaughter of Weba, one of the last Waorani elders that lived in complete isolation before outside contact, Anita is determined to capture Weba’s unique experience and knowledge while she still can. Through a new high school in her remote community, she and her classmates are challenging the colonial education system imposed on their territory, which has separated students from their culture and heritage. They are consulting elders like Weba to build a comprehensive guidebook to Waorani culture and scientific understanding of their rainforest--a textbook rife with ancestral knowledge that risks being lost completely with the passage of each Waorani elder.
Anita navigates the pressures of school, motherhood, and tradition as her community and forest face ever-growing influence from outside development. Through her story, she gives new perspective and complexity to our understanding of cultural change and identity, and shows us the importance of having agency in the telling of our own stories.
Filmmakers:
Keith Heyward - Director, Producer, Director of Photography, and Editor
Keith is an accomplished filmmaker, web developer, and interactive media designer working in some of the most extreme environments in the world, from Antarctica, to the Amazon, to the Arctic. He has created a wide range of media experiences from documentaries and educational content to multimedia art exhibits and music videos. He was a cinematographer for the Netflix Original Documentary “Take Your Pills,” which premiered at SXSW in 2018, as well as the documentary “The Brink” which premiered at Sundance in January 2019. In addition, he was a Director of Photography for NHK’s “Life Force 2” and the BBC’s “Super Smart Animals.” His wildlife cinematography has been featured on TV programs like the BBC, National Geographic, the Weather Channel, and more.
Anita Gange Yeti - Director, Producer, Writer, and Narrator
Anita is a young Waorani woman from the community of Kewediono in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where she graduated from the Nongi Togodo Bilingual High School. As the eldest daughter of a prominent and traditional family in her community, and the granddaughter of Weba, the eldest member of the community, she is deeply rooted in the Waorani culture and is well versed in the Waorani’s storytelling tradition. Her father, Eweme, is a respected cultural and ecological guide at the Waorani Ecolodge, and she has worked at the lodge herself for many years. Through this experience she has become a great facilitator between her culture, the rainforest, and life outside her territory.
Obe Nenquimo - Director, Producer, and Writer
Obe was the oldest student to graduate from the Nongi Togodo Bilingual High School alongside Anita. Her dedication to documenting and preserving her culture is astonishing, simultaneously raising several children, working at the nearby ecolodge, and attending classes. She now works as an interpreter and clinic assistant for Ecuador’s Ministry of Health providing health care services to indigenous communities throughout the territory.
Jennifer Berglund - Director, Producer, and Writer
Jennifer is an award-winning writer, filmmaker and photographer at the intersection of science, nature and culture. Her work has taken her around the globe to all seven continents, from the depths of the Amazon Rainforest, to the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, and even the bottom of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Her writings, films and photos have appeared in publications, televisions and big screens both nationally and internationally in film festivals and major publications, including Discover Magazine, Scientific American, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and others. She was named a National Science Foundation STEM Media Fellow at the 2017 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, and in 2018, she was named a National Geographic Explorer. She also works closely with world-renowned scientists and scholars at Harvard University to develop exhibits and media for the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.
