Miwene

Film 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 woman 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.