How ‘We Are Guardians’ explores community efforts to protect the Amazon

Back in 2019, documentarians Chelsea Greene and Rob Grobman didn’t yet know each other, but both had been stirred by footage of the Amazon burning and had traveled to Brazil with the idea of making a film.

After being introduced to each other by a journalist, they decided to team up, and after the COVID lockdown, they returned to start shooting. However, while spending a day off at the beach, they met Edivan Guajajara, co-founder of Mídia Indígena, Brazil’s leading Indigenous-led journalism collective.

“We were starstruck,” Greene says, adding that soon they agreed, “We need to be directing this film together.”

With Leonardo DiCaprio signing on as an executive producer and Oscar-winner Fisher Stevens as a producer, the resulting film, “We Are Guardians,” tells the story of the Indigenous forest protectors of the Amazon as they try to stave off the loggers and farmers who are destroying their land and damaging the environment far beyond the Amazon’s borders. The Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael will have a screening and conversation at 7 p.m. Thursday. Get tickets ($13 to $15) at rafaelfilm.cafilm.org/we-are-guardians.

The film is shot verite style, emphasizing the work of people on the ground, but it explains the science and points blame at those the film argues are complicit in the rapid and devastating deforestation, including local and national officials, then-president Jair Bolsonaro, and multinational corporations such Cargill, JBS, Walmart and more.

Greene, Grobman and Guajajara (through an interpreter) recently spoke by video about the film. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Q Edivan, was your community open to this project and for you to work with Chelsea and Rob? Or were they wary?

Guajajara: We had a little bit of fear because where I’m from had been one of the bloodiest territories in the region because of the invaders and the loggers for the previous five years so media outlets wanted to know what was happening but whenever a team came, they would do a story, but would never return and nothing would be done about it. So some people inside the territory were indeed suspicious. 

It didn’t change overnight, but through time. They saw Chelsea and Rob were committed to showing what was really happening. And the documentary is an important tool for the visibility of our fight and for recognizing the Indigenous leadership of the area.

Greene: Other people extract stories and don’t return, but we came back four years in a row and spent quality time and returned on all our promises, and we’re still helping the communities get supplies.

Grobman: Edivan connected us with his community and helped us navigate those relationships. But he was also a real leader in the storytelling elements of how he sees this fight and how he sees what’s going on in the Amazon. He helped us understand what was going on from the Indigenous perspective because it really is a different way of looking at the forest and the world.

Q The film notes that more than 600 Indigenous people have been murdered in the last decade over this land. But it also shows the Guardians increasing their formal training for stopping the invaders. Some tactics, like using drones, seem safe, but is there concern about increased confrontation?

Greene: There are statistics showing that Indigenous territories and protected areas that have some sort of guard, groups of people doing territorial monitoring have fewer instances of invasion and deforestation. Even if the Guardians don’t have the same power as the police, they can report it to the police and there’s a presence there. Of course, there are instances of tragedy, but the trainings will help – they’re learning techniques of violence de-escalation. They have women who go in first and try to talk to the invaders. Using the drones obviously helps them record the deforestation from afar and then report that to the police and then they can decide if they need to go there and how to approach that. 

Q The film also spends time with some Brazilian loggers and farmers, hearing their side. Why was it important to humanize them?

Grobman: To understand what’s going on in the Amazon, you need to understand many different sides of this issue. The film is trying to make a statement about the interconnection of all of us, that we all are a part of this, but we also need to listen to one another. 

These people are in an unfortunate situation, and they need a different way of living that requires education and systemic change. It’s not necessarily their fault. So we wanted to give voice to the people that you might quickly label as the enemy or perpetrators of this destruction when, in fact, like the bigger multinational companies are the real perpetrators.

Greene: There’s no solution without the inclusion of the people who live in those communities. 

We also reached out to representatives from politicians, the bigger ranchers and companies like Cargill and JBS. We did manage to get some interviews but they didn’t feel authentic or compelling.

Q Bolsonaro is a major villain in the film, yet it’s also clear the problems pre-date him and go far beyond him. The film shows him losing the election. Is that cause for hope or is the system too deeply poisoned?

Greene: Last year was the worst fire season since 2019, and we’re in the worst drought the Amazon has ever seen. So we’re at a climactic tipping point where the Amazon can’t produce enough rainfall to support the tree species that live there. And deforestation, which decreased a lot after the election, has continued. We’re still in a capitalistic system that’s fundamentally broken so we’re cutting down our very life source.

Q Is there any hope? The film shows Indigenous women running for, and winning, seats in Congress?

Greene: It’s a really positive and inspiring step. These international companies and banks pay the men in office to erode environmental laws, so we need women in leadership, especially Indigenous women.

Guajajara: This is positive. The president has no power to transform things. And I think this movie, which shows our people as guardians, is a very positive factor. It shows we can do things a certain way; we can show right from wrong. Just the fact that I’m speaking to you, connecting with people from outside of our region is already a big thing. Of course, we won’t change the world in one day or with one film. But this movie shows that we all need to be guardians.