"Remembering Bagua" Documentary Film

Talisman's Tactics in Peru are causing conflicts among the Achuar and Wampis people

2011-12-13T13:06:00.000-08:00

The Achuar of the northern Peruvian Amazon are fighting to keep Canadian oil company Talisman Energy out of their ancestral territory, but the company continues to ignore the Achuar's demands and expand operations. Recent testimony from Salesian Priest Father Diego Clavijo highlights the heightened tensions and risk of conflict caused by Talisman's "divide and conquer" strategy.

This urgent situation calls for immediate action by Talisman. Sign the petition asking Talisman to leave the Achuar in peace and withdraw from their territory:

http://amazonwatch.org/take-action/pledge-to-support-the-achuar-people

Updated 15-min piece

2011-12-13T13:05:00.001-08:00

Remembering Bagua: Presentation for AAA, November 2011 from Anna Luisa D. & Bronwen M. on Vimeo.

This updated 15-minute video was produced for the American Anthropological Association (AAA): Annual Meeting

Panel 5-0980: GLOBAL AND LOCAL CLIMATE CHANGE: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, FROM THE GROUND UP

Paper #10280 Remembering Bagua: Indigenous Peoples At the Forefront of the Struggle for Climate Justice and Consultation Rights. by Anna Luisa Daigneault

Video Introduction:

Hello everyone,
In a few moments, I will present to you a 10-minute excerpt of Remembering Bagua, a film I made with this year with Bronwen Moen.

Our film documents an Amazonian struggle that took place in northern Peru. Indigenous Awajun and Wampis activists protested against new laws created by the Peruvian government, allowing international companies to extract oil, gas and minerals from the Amazon without adequately consulting the indigenous people.

The story of Bagua fits into a larger global narrative where the politics of resource extraction lead to social inequalities, health risks and violent conflict. Around the world, corporate and government irresponsibility is causing loss of life and climate change, and yet these costs are not being assessed.

When mining and oil companies dump their toxic waste into the environment, the water and food supply become compromised. We have heard about the BP spill in the Gulf, the Exxon-Valdez spill in Alaska, and the Shell oil spills in the Niger Delta in Africa, but what about the Amazon?

Indigenous people in the Amazon are at the forefront of the struggle for territorial rights and climate justice. They deserve to be consulted on economic policies that affect their lands, personal health and livelihoods.

1400 people in Ecuador alone have died from oil pollution caused by American giant Chevron-Texaco. In northern Peru, there have been 90 oil spills in the last 3 years alone, 18 major spills in 2010 caused by Argentinian oil company Pluspetrol.
Here in Canada, First Nations communities near the Tar Sands in Alberta are also experiencing the severe impacts of oil pollution on local health. Corporations must be held accountable for their actions abroad, and at home.

Pollution and climate justice are not confined by borders and are not issues that can be resolved by each nation state on their own. Big international corporations now have more economic power than many countries do, and have been in the business of buying out governments with promises of big profits.

Oil and gas companies spend millions trying to cover up or downplay health problems such as rising cancer rates and birth defects. They continue to portray themselves as champions of economic growth and continue on their path of destruction disguised as progress, pitting the economy against nature, placing wealth above health, portraying the indigenous people as terrorists or as second-class citizens. Big Oil argues that new jobs will always save the day, and that climate change is not a serious threat.

The Amazon rainforest plays an important role in stabilizing the global climate, by constantly recycling carbon dioxide into oxygen. As carbon emissions and deforestation increase, the lungs of the world begin to choke.

We must remember that Amazonian people are also part of the 99%. They also struggle against destructive economic policies that do not benefit them, and they deserve to have their voices heard and have access to social media.

The story of Bagua shows us how government cover-up and corruption can obscure the facts about violent uprisings in remote areas, and how we need to pay closer attention to what is happening on the fringes of the modern world, which are the frontlines of climate change and environmental disaster.

OUTRO
In 2011, the Peruvian government finally approved a law giving indigenous communities the right to be consulted about development on their lands. Time will tell if this law really serves the people, or whether it is purely symbolic.

What happened in Bagua is not an isolated incident. In many parts of South America, indigenous people are standing up to destructive economic policies, for example:
The Xingu River tribes in Brazil are fighting against the Belo Monte Dam project.
The Achuar people of Peru are fighting against oil drilling by Canadian company Talisman Energy, and the U’wa people of Colombia are struggling against Ecopetrol, and the list goes on and on.

As anthropologists, we have the ability to document and analyze these struggles, navigate between worlds and bring lesser-known stories into the public eye. Let’s use our knowledge to help steer economic policies in a more sustainable direction, for the benefit of future generations.

Thanks for watching.

Upcoming Screenings, June 2011

2011-06-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 11th, 7pm, Artists' Television Access.
992 Valencia. San Francisco, USA
event info here
Trees Tropiques (2009, 30min) and Remembering Bagua (2011, 22min)

Monday June 20th, 7:30pm
XPression Gallery, 5334 De Gaspe, Suite 308, Montreal, Canada.
Infringement Festival!!
"Cultural Resistance Films"
Facebook Event Invitation

Watch the film on Vimeo

2011-06-01T11:30:00.001-07:00

Remembering Bagua (2011) from Anna Luisa D. & Bronwen M. on Vimeo.

Standing up to Chevron in the Ecuadorian Amazon

2011-05-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

Stand with Ecuadorians in their campaign to make Chevron clean up its toxic legacy in the Amazon.

Screening at the Centre for Ethnographic Research and Exhibition in the Aftermath of Violence (CEREV)

2011-04-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

For those of you in Montreal who wanted to come to that last screening, but were unable to, we will be screening it in the 6th floor of the Concordia Library Building in two days:

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011, 3pm – 5pm
1400 de Maisonneuve W, 6th Floor
Concordia University McConnell Library Building
LB 671.7, CEREV Exhibition Workshop Room
http://cerev.concordia.ca/

"Remembering Bagua" (22min, 2011) is a short documentary film that examines an under-reported violent conflict that arose in Bagua, Peru in June 2009. Bronwem Moen will be in attendance on Tuesday to answer questions, and Anna Luisa Diagneault will be there via Skype.

Remembering Bagua now in Vimeo!

2011-04-15T15:04:00.001-07:00

Watch the full-length film (22min)

Remembering Bagua (2011) from Anna Luisa D. & Bronwen M. on Vimeo.

Dozens of New Oil Spills Devastate Northern Peruvian Amazon

2011-03-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Report Reveals New Pluspetrol Spills As Government Green-Lights New Oil Development
Amazon Watch
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | March 2, 2011

Iquitos, Peru – Independent monitoring of Oil Blocks 1-AB and 8 in the Northern Peruvian Amazon has revealed devastating ongoing impacts of oil drilling, according to a recent report by the Federation of Indigenous Communities of the Corrientes River (FECONACO). A team of monitors from the indigenous Achuar and Urarina communities on the Corrientes River documented 18 major crude oil spills in 2010 and over 90 spills over the last three years, directly affecting dozens of miles of rivers and streams and vast stretches of forest. Blocks 1-AB and 8 are currently operated by Argentine company Pluspetrol. Block 1-AB was operated by Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) from 1971 to 2000 and is the subject of ongoing litigation by communities alleging the company severely contaminated the environment for nearly 30 years.

To read more, click here

Montreal Launch Tonight!

2011-03-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

Remembering Bagua will be officially launched tonight!

Wednesday March 16th, 2011
Two Screenings: 8pm and 9pm

VA Room 323, third floor, 1395 Rene-Levesque, corner Crescent
Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec

Anna Luisa Daigneault and Bronwen Moen will be speaking about the making of the film and doing a Q & A after each screening. They will also be joined by Mohawk activist and environmental rights advocate Ben Powless, who was present at the Bagua conflict in Peru in 2009, and will be speaking about his experience there, and presenting photographs.

See you soon!

photos from the Montreal launch (all photos by Ben Powless)

Take Action in the Amazon

2011-03-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

To support the people of the Amazon and help defend their human and environmental rights, join these ongoing campaigns:

Amazon Watch: Stand With the Achuar People of the Peruvian Amazon Against Oil Drilling

Rainforest Action Network: The Lasting Stain of Oil in the Amazon

Chevron in Ecuador: A Campaign for Justice

International Rivers: Stop the Belo Monte Dam Project on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon

thank you!

Official Release on March 16th in Montreal!!

2011-03-04T13:06:00.000-08:00

WE ARE READY FOR LIFT-OFF! We are proud to present the final version of our film, "Remembering Bagua". It was financed by a Kickstarter campaign, shot in the Peruvian Amazon, and edited in California and Quebec. It is our first film and we are excited to share it with you, free of charge.

REMEMBERING BAGUA (24 minutes, 2011, 16+)
A film by Anna Luisa Daigneault & Bronwen Moen
(Haunted Clockwork Productions & Booreka MediaCreatures)
Canada-USA-Peru.
Facebook Event Information
March 16th 2011, 8pm

The screening will be in VA Room 323 (a small amphitheatre that seats about 50 people) on the third floor of the VA building, which is at the corner of Crescent & René-Lévesque, in downtown Montreal, near Lucien-L'allier metro (orange line).
1395 René Lévesque W., VA 323 - Visual Arts Building, Concordia University, Room 323.

We will be giving the screening at 8pm sharp, and provide some information about the background and our experience traveling in Peru to the Bagua Massacre Memorial. We will also do a Q & A after the screening. The film contains graphic content; viewers should be over 16 years of age.

Our film examines the conflict that arose in Bagua, Peru in 2009. Indigenous activists from the Peruvian Amazon protested against new laws created by the Peruvian government that allow international companies to extract oil, gas and minerals from the Amazon without adequately consulting the indigenous people. Violence ensued which left 34 people dead, and over 200 wounded.

For more information about the subject matter and interviews and articles related to the film, please visit:
http://rememberingbagua.blogspot.com/

The soundtrack to the film was created by Anna Luisa Daigneault. The music was recorded in collaboration between Anna, Oliver Lewis and Leonardo Camacho in Lima, Peru.

Interview on "Community Currency" show, aired on Progressive Radio Network

2011-02-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

Radio Interview on Feb 17th, 2011 about the background and the making of Remembering Bagua.
Click here to go to the player

"Remembering Bagua" in Daily Censored article "Oilpocalypse Now - Beneath the Surface"

2011-02-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

The full article, by Carol Brouillet, can be read here

The article discusses an important upcoming event in Oakland, California: on February 10, 2011, Oilpocalypse Now will be held at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Avenue, Oakland. Oilpocalypse Now–a benefit for the Gulf Coast Fund, the Coastal Heritage Society of Louisiana, and Ultimate Civics–features the documentary “Black Wave: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez,” and speakers Dr. Riki Ott, Summer Burkes, Lisa Gautier, Phoebe Sorgen, and Carol Brouillet.

Sneak Preview of "Remembering Bagua" at le Salon de la Marginalité in Montreal on Feb 5th, 2011

2011-01-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,
A sneak preview of "Remembering Bagua" will be screened at Le Salon de la Marginalité in Montreal on February 5th, 2011, at 11h20 in the morning, in the Projection Room. This free art festival/conference focuses themes of marginalization, oppression, futurism, underground art movements, and much more. It will take place in Église St-Denis near Laurier metro: 454, avenue Laurier est. There will be many other screenings of short films as well, as well as workshops and performances. Information about the event can be found on these links:

http://www.salondelamarginalite.blogspot.com/
on FB: http://on.fb.me/ffx19R

all the best,
the RB team

Project Update

2010-12-29T20:17:00.000-08:00

Dear supporters and friends,

We are thankful for all the support you have shown us during the making of this project. We are also happy to have made many new contacts interested in this film at Burning Man. We continue to work on the film over the 2010 holiday season with plans of doing screenings of "Remembering Bagua" in March 2011 in Montreal and in other cities. There will be a sneak preview in Montreal on Feb 4-5.

All the best to you and we will be in touch soon,
Anna

Kickstarter Fundraising Campaign for Documentary Film on Bagua

2010-07-03T17:12:00.001-07:00

The Language of Remembering: Bagua, One Year Later

2010-06-24T00:52:00.000-07:00

On June 5th, 2010, under a scorching hot sun, hundreds of mourners gathered at a remote section of highway called 'La Curva del Diablo' (The Devil's Curve), located near Bagua, in northern Peru. People came from all over the country to commemorate the deaths of over 30 people who died one year ago at this fateful site. Simultaneous memorials were also held in cities all over Peru.

It was a slightly chaotic scene. Over loudspeakers, people shouted slogans such as 'La selva no se vende, se defiende' (the jungle is not for sale, we must defend it). Small children ran up and down the cactus-covered hill, selling multicolored popsicles and fluorescent soft drinks to the sweating crowd. People crouched in prayer in front of a large white cross erected in honor of the dead. Tense whispers spread among the mourners, in anticipation of the arrival of Alberto Pizango, the famed Awajun indigenous leader who is being portrayed in the Peruvian media as a criminal, guilty of perpetrating violence against the state. Students waved posters of Pizango's passionate face, his gold teeth gleaming against a blood-red background.

What happened one year ago at Bagua?
The events of June 5th, 2009 are being called 'Peru's Tiennamen Square' and are linked to the current global struggle for the control of the diminishing oil reserves on Earth. The exact details concerning the killings that took place near Bagua are still nebulous and many conflicting reports and opinions could be heard at the memorial event. People cited different figures concerning the number of people who were killed in the violence. While the official body count is currently at 34 (a tally that includes 25 local police officers and 9 indigenous people), many local Bagua citizens speculate that up to 100 Awajun and Wampis activists died at the massacre and that their bodies have been hidden from the public eye by the national police.

The issues surrounding the Bagua massacre are complex and are related to the protection of indigenous land rights and the exploitation of native territories by the oil industry. In June of 2009, dozens of Awajun and Wampis indigenous people traveled from the Amazonion jungle to camp out at the La Curva del Diablo, a strategic location for trucks entering from the Pacific coast into the Amazon region. They held their ground for two weeks, in protest of controversial government laws that allow national and multinational corporations to exploit natural resources in indigenous territories.

As it stands, 72% of the Peruvian Amazon has been conceded to multinational corporations by the Peruvian government for fossil fuel exploration and extraction. In a nutshell, the Awajun and Wampis activists wanted the Peruvian government to recognize and respect native lands as well as adequately consult indigenous people before extractive activities begin.

According to the Peruvian media, tensions rose between the indigenous protesters and the local Bagua police, which led to a violent stand-off that left 34 people dead and a hundred people wounded. However, at the memorial in 2010, many survivors of the event reported to us that protesters and local police did not kill each other, but that both sides were attacked by the Peruvian national police.

Eyewitnesses related that police helicopters were sent in from national headquarters to violently end the protest. They claimed that the national police exterminated all those on the ground, killing protesters with gunfire from above, and in the process also killing many local Bagua police officers. To cover up the massacre, local people in Bagua say that the national police imposed a 3 pm curfew for all citizens, cordoned off the area for many days and disposed of all the bodies by burning them.

While an official investigation and subsequent released statements did not reveal any more deaths, local people remain adamant that many more people died than was admitted, but the exact numbers are unknown. However, despite the differences in factual details, the extreme nature of the eyewitness stories is a testament to their painful grief. All the people we spoke to were outraged by the events and spoke of a strong desire for justice in the face of oppression.

For more background on the 2009 events, please see:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/indigenous-genocide-in-battle-for-oilfiel...

The Bagua Memorial and its Ideological Landscape

Many different leaders spoke to the large crowd gathered at La Curva del Diablo. Their discourses varied and their words were at times both unsettling and uplifting to the listeners. Some hardcore anti-extraction activists referred to the multinationals in Peru as evil propagators of capitalist values and rapists of La Pachamama (Mother Earth). They led chants that encouraged the crowd to reject all forms of exploitation of native lands and focused on environmental preservation.

Other indigenous leaders did not condemn the multinationals, but expressed hope that their communities would be able to reap the financial benefits of the economic activities, and thus combat widespread poverty, improve education, promote health and encourage the economic development of the jungle. These speakers emphasized their frustration that foreign investors were getting rich while Peruvians remained in the dust. As one speaker aptly put it, 'Nosotros tenemos la vaca, y ellos toman la leche' (we've got the cow, but they drink the milk).

While all speakers agreed that violence, corruption and oppression in Peru must end, they did not agree on proposed strategies to end the conflict and had fundamentally different perceptions of indigenous self-determination and economic development.

The most intense speech of the day was that of Alberto Pizango, the Awajun indigenous leader who had recently returned from exile in Nicaragua. He gave a measured yet captivating speech that provided a detailed account of the history of all economic activity the Amazon. He spoke of the sacrifice made by his fallen brothers, the struggles of his people for land recognition and implored the government to protect indigenous rights and the precious ecosystem of the jungle. For his own protection, after he spoke, he was escorted away by bodyguards and the local police and this caused a brief but mad flurry of fans who were trying to follow him and speak to him.

The memorial was also marked by two Awajun elders who spoke in their native language about the killings. They sang several traditional indigenous songs to a hushed crowd and their voices filled the valley with the power of their ancestral past. The memorial ended peacefully and the crowd dissipated as people headed back to the towns of Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande in packed moto-taxis. The upcoming months will reveal more about this situation as pressure is placed on the Peruvian government to protect indigenous rights.

Where does the responsibility for violence lie? Until there is a balance of power, minority groups should be protected and respected. The government must definitely listen to the voice of Amazonian peoples to really understand their side of the issue. It is important to not romanticize them, but it is also crucial to listen to them and know more about their ancestral ways and the multi-faceted reasons why they are defending their lands.

Unfortunately, since the indigenous people are not properly consulted and often ignored in Peru, it leads them to take strong and disruptive actions such as blocking the roads, in order for their opinions to be heard. While we do not think violence is an acceptable means of protest, we think that the situation was extreme, and that both sides were definitely provoked, and that it led to violence. Everyone has different opinions on who started what, and who killed who, and we will not know what truly happened that day because a lot of the evidence is no longer available to examine.

In the end, it comes down to Alan Garcia's government changing its policy on the privatization of Amazonian lands. No matter how you spin it, the government did not negotiate the oil concessions adequately with indigenous groups, nor did they respond to the conflict properly. Garcia's government focuses purely on the sacredness of foreign investment and the exportation of raw materials, and this does not lead to sustainable development in the remote areas of Peru. It leads to contamination and the further erosion of indigenous cultures in the Amazon.

(This article was written as a result of fieldwork carried out by Anna Luisa Daigneault and Bronwen Moen. Photos by Bronwen Moen.)