Oakland, CA – The feature-length, verite-style documentary “We Are Guardians” – executive produced by Leonardo Dicaprio – will have special events featuring Indigenous leadership at the New Parkway Theater and Bioneers Conference on March 28 and 29, 2024.
What: “We Are Guardians” award-winning documentary special screening
Who: Chelsea Greene, film director and Puyr Tembé, film protagonist and Secretary of State for Indigenous Peoples of Pará in Brazil
When and Where:
March 28 at 5:30 pm PT at the New Parkway Theatre, 474 24th Street, Oakland, CA
March 29 at 6:40 pm PT at the Goldman Theater, Brower Center as part of the Bioneers Conference, Berkeley, CA
“We Are Guardians” is a powerful film that follows several storylines: one of Indigenous forest guardian Marçal Guajajara and activist Puyr Tembé as they fight to protect territories from deforestation, one of an illegal logger who has no choice but to cut the forest down, and one of a large landowner at the mercy of thousands of invaders and extractive industries. Weaving together politics, history, economics, and science, “We Are Guardians” provides an in-depth exploration of the incredibly complex and critical situation, and it is a story of hope and resilience amidst an unfolding crisis.
The film team has launched an impact campaign to provide vital support to the Indigenous forest guardians to protect the forest in their territories, support reforestation and agroforestry projects, and advocate for deforestation-free supply chains internationally. To learn more, donate, and find other ways to take action, go to weareguardiansfilm.com.
The fundraiser screening will be followed by a Q&A session with director Chelsea Greene and Puyr Tembé, providing an opportunity for attendees to connect and engage more deeply with the topics presented in the film. Puyr is an Indigenous leader and activist at the front lines of the movement to increase Indigenous women’s participation in the Brazilian government. She was recently appointed Secretary of Indigenous Peoples of the state of Pará. As a warrior in the Tembé community in the Amazonian Indigenous territory of Alto Rio Guamá, she will take us behind the scenes of their experiences and challenges as guardians of their ancestral lands.
Tickets for the events are available by purchasing through weareguardiansfilm.com/screenings. All proceeds from the event will go towards supporting the impact campaign, and the event is co-hosted by Amazon Watch.
“We are thrilled to bring “We Are Guardians” to the Bay Area and to engage with our community in meaningful conversations in this urgent time for the Amazon and our planet,” said Chelsea Greene, one of the film’s three co-directors. “My dream is that the bravery and connection with nature of the Indigenous protectors inspires the guardianship within us all.”
“We’ve protected the forests of the world for thousands of years. We’re not paid for that. We’re doing it for humanity,” Puyr says in the film. “We’re innovating, which is reforesting minds. It’s not only planting, but to reforest the mind, the head, the thoughts, the heart, the unity and solidarity in the world.”
Puyr is an incredible speaker, leaving audiences motivated and inspired. “It is no longer possible for only Indigenous peoples to take care of the environmental agenda of defending life for all. It is necessary for all of us, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, to embrace this to build a better world.”
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit weareguardiansfilm.com/screenings. Follow us on @weareguardiansfilm for updates and announcements.
