Jatun Yaku – Amazon of Rights
A documentary exploring the rights of the Amazon river and the efforts of local youth to protect ancestral territories.
Pilot documentary from the 'Amazon of Rights' project exploring ecocentric normativity and river rights in the Amazon basin.
Synopsis
'Jatun Yacu' (meaning 'Big Water' in Kichwa) is a pilot documentary film produced as part of the Volkswagen Foundation-funded 'Amazon of Rights' project at the Research Institute for Sustainability in Potsdam.
The film documents the complex intersection of indigenous rights, environmental law, and the lived realities of communities along the Amazon river system. Through visual ethnography, it captures the efforts of local youth fighting to protect their ancestral territories and the river they consider a living entity.
Co-created with Maria Cecilia Oliveira (RIFS Potsdam) and Michael Riegner (University of Erfurt), the film integrates research methodology with documentary storytelling.
Production Stills