The Amazon Changers (documentary film)

For outsiders, the tensions in Ecuador's Amazon are not immediately visible. But the difficulties are revealed in the pumping noise of rusty oil pipelines, in flames of flared methane, industrial plants in the middle of the jungle, fenced with barbed wire, as well as in alcoholism, disillusion and fights between different indigenous groups. In this documentary, produced together with film maker Esther Petsche, we accompany an extraordinary project: Swiss NGO "Cooks without borders" has set up a floating school and meeting point for indigenous communities on Ecuador's Rio Napo. The project proposes a transformation from an economy based on extractivism to one that helps preserve the environment and empowers indigenous people. Based on my research, I published several articles about Ecuador's environmental and social challenges in Der Spiegel, Der Standard, SonntagsZeitung and Surprise.