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ENLARGE
It is short - 33 minutes - but very powerful. The movie, "Dream People of the Amazon," tells of an indigenous people in Ecuador who are fighting multinational corporations who want to invade the Achuars' land to search for gold and oil.
Even though this film will subsequently move to Sierra Cinemas in Grass Valley (Monday-Thursday), the showing Sunday at the Nevada Theatre includes a question-and-answer session by its maker, Larry Lansburgh, of Nevada City.
What is so poignant about this film is that the Achuar people still retain their traditional culture after 30 years of contact with the outside world, using every possible avenue to ward off exploitation - even to the point of its spokesperson presenting its case at The Hague in the Netherlands. The Achuar are intelligent, highly conscious and determined.
Filmmaker Lansburgh has captured their struggle (which is really our struggle because maintaining the rain forest helps keep the planet healthy) in a stunning way.
Even though this film will subsequently move to Sierra Cinemas in Grass Valley (Monday-Thursday), the showing Sunday at the Nevada Theatre includes a question-and-answer session by its maker, Larry Lansburgh, of Nevada City.
What is so poignant about this film is that the Achuar people still retain their traditional culture after 30 years of contact with the outside world, using every possible avenue to ward off exploitation - even to the point of its spokesperson presenting its case at The Hague in the Netherlands. The Achuar are intelligent, highly conscious and determined.
Filmmaker Lansburgh has captured their struggle (which is really our struggle because maintaining the rain forest helps keep the planet healthy) in a stunning way.
"This is the first film the Achuar people have allowed to be made in their territory," says the Spanish-speaking Lansburgh. Overcoming their shyness about cameras, the Achuar share their knowledge, customs and spiritual beliefs and how their dreams have protected their forest from outside exploitation.
"They consider their dreams to be not only real, but very powerful," says Lansburgh. "Every morning Achuar families gather around the fire built on the dirt floor of their thatched-roof house to discuss their dreams - and use them for guidance."
Gifted Achuar leader, Domingo Peas, says Lansburgh, "acted as my colleague, interpreter and production manager. Without his guidance and people skills, I couldn't have gained entry into a single Achuar village. One week, Domingo was guiding me through his jungle when he saw a huge black ant crawling on my collar. He flicked it off, probably saving my life. It was an extremely aggressive and venomous conga ant, and if it had bitten me on the neck, the nicest thing that would have happened to me would have been 12 hours of agony. Or the tissue would have swelled so much that I would have suffocated. The next week, I was guiding Domingo through the jungle of Dutch public transportation so that he could get to a United Nations conference on climate change in The Hague."
For previous films, Lansburgh has received an Academy Award nomination, an Emmy, and several other awards. He is the writer, producer and director of "Dream People of the Amazon," but others in the county, such as Robin Milam and Sands Hall, contributed.
"They consider their dreams to be not only real, but very powerful," says Lansburgh. "Every morning Achuar families gather around the fire built on the dirt floor of their thatched-roof house to discuss their dreams - and use them for guidance."
Gifted Achuar leader, Domingo Peas, says Lansburgh, "acted as my colleague, interpreter and production manager. Without his guidance and people skills, I couldn't have gained entry into a single Achuar village. One week, Domingo was guiding me through his jungle when he saw a huge black ant crawling on my collar. He flicked it off, probably saving my life. It was an extremely aggressive and venomous conga ant, and if it had bitten me on the neck, the nicest thing that would have happened to me would have been 12 hours of agony. Or the tissue would have swelled so much that I would have suffocated. The next week, I was guiding Domingo through the jungle of Dutch public transportation so that he could get to a United Nations conference on climate change in The Hague."
For previous films, Lansburgh has received an Academy Award nomination, an Emmy, and several other awards. He is the writer, producer and director of "Dream People of the Amazon," but others in the county, such as Robin Milam and Sands Hall, contributed.
This film is helping the Achuar by not only raising the world's consciousness but by raising money for the fight.
WHAT: Screening of "Dream People of the Amazon," a documentary by Nevada City film maker Larry Lansburgh
WHEN: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
WHAT: Screening of "Dream People of the Amazon," a documentary by Nevada City film maker Larry Lansburgh
WHEN: Sunday, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad St., Nevada City
ADMISSION: $6 adults, $5 seniors (62 and over) and kids (12 and under)
INFORMATION: 274-3456
ADMISSION: $6 adults, $5 seniors (62 and over) and kids (12 and under)
INFORMATION: 274-3456
