KUIN PEOPLES - Documentary Filming Support

TUWE HUNI KUIN

Tuwe Huni Kuin is an indigenous youth leader from the Brazilian state of Acre. A budding filmmaker, Tuwe is committed to sharing the story of his people, the Huni Kuin, and other indigenous tribes of the Amazon with the world. To that end, the Inti Raymi Fund has provided Tuwe with $25,000 to purchase state­-of-­the-­art film equipment that will be able to withstand the extreme weather conditions of the Amazon near the border of Brazil and Peru, where Tuwe lives, works and will be filming.

TUWE’S CURRENT FILMING GOALS

– Filming Huni Kuin community projects for conservation (beekeeping, indigenous frog farming, indigenous plant stewardship). These films can serve to stimulate funding and help other communities to replicate similar projects in their own communities.

– Increasing awareness among Indigenous groups in the Amazon of the neighboring Indigenous Peoples of other cultures.

– Continuing to film local community workshops that educate Indigenous and nonindigenous communities about the uncontacted tribes of the Amazon and the importance of them remaining un-contacted. Workshops are organized by FUNAI in cooperation with the Huni Kuin community. Tuwe has been filming these workshops for over 2 years.

Equipment was purchased through Tribal Link Foundation’s Indigenous Fellowship Program in consultation with Tuwe’s mentors, professional film makers from Post Factory NY and Globo TV, Brazil.

MORE ABOUT TUWE HUNI KUIN

For many years, Tuwe’s dream and vision has been to learn English so that he can speak for himself when carrying out the political and cultural mandate of his peoples abroad. He has also aspired to enhance his basic filmmaking skills as a tool to share the Huni Kuin culture and challenges with the world. Together, these would make him an extremely effective international advocate for his own people and all Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon. In June 2012, Tribal Link committed to funding Tuwes tuition to New York University’s American Language Institute. After 11 months of instruction and support from Tribal Link, with additional support from the Nataasha van Kampen Foundation, Tuwe has acquired language and film making skills that will help achieve his goals, making him one of the only English speaking trained filmmakers and international advocates in his region.

The Inti Raymi Fund became aware of Tuwe and his Peoples while attending the World Conference of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Through a collaborative effort, the Inti Raymi Fund provided a $25,000 Grant into Tribal Link for the above aforementioned Human Rights project with the Huni Kuin Peoples.

The Inti Raymi fund did not visit Brazil for this project (first 5 of 6 images below from KuIn Village/Tribal Link).