EarthElders Documentary

Earth Elders follows a council of 13 indigenous Elders from every continent, united by prophecy to safeguard Earth’s biodiversity and bio-cultural heritage for present and future generations. Their mission is to protect and regenerate ecosystems, indigenous knowledge systems and paving the path for governments, institutions, and the public to remember what it means to be guardian on planet Earth.

Each Elder is deeply rooted in their lineage and cosmology, yet fluent in transversing the Modern World, envisioning a planet where all life can flourish in balance and harmony when reconnecting back to the Original Instructions of Mother Earth.

The film focuses on five Elders, following their journeys from their territories in the Brazilian Amazon, Southern Africa, Northern Argentina, Canada’s Arctic Circle and Central Mexico to global international conferences and Indigenous gatherings, where ceremony and ritual is at the core. We witness their activism and leadership, as they galvanise unity among Indigenous Peoples from across the world - and with allies - as foretold in their ancient prophecies.

Key Characters:

● Emma (Argentina): an Elder of the Qulla people and revered social-worker in the north of Argentina, grounds indigenous wisdom from the Andean highlands into the protection of landscapes where lithium extraction threatens sacred water sources and traditional lifeways.

● Ninawa (Amazon): Chief of the 16,000 strong community of the Huni Kuin in the Brazilian Amazon, whose community is surrounded by deforestation, carries the force of the forest and speaks to the intellectual property and preservation of sacred medicine, language, and ritual in the face of cultural erasure, record-breaking wildfires and territorial violence.

● Rutendo (South Africa): from Southern Africa, as a transdisciplinary researcher, engineer and Indigenous Knowledge practitioner, she draws upon ancestral governance models and traditional healing modalities to address the trauma of colonialism and to revive Nature-based ways of knowing, being and doing.

● Mindahi (Mexico): from the Otomi-Toltec tradition in Mexico, with a doctorate in sustainable development, his life work bridges ceremony, international policy, protection of biodiversity, and intercultural & interfaith dialogue rooted in sacred reciprocity, advocating for the protection of natural sacred sites.

● Cindy (Yukon): Cindy is of Gwichin and Tlingit descent, is committed to addressing climate change and food security in the Arctic Circle through the University of the Arctic and fortifying policy and community-led action in the protection of a thawing land.