Film Directors Clement and Sophie Guerra
By Julie Howe
Most people who get married and decide to have children build a nest and settle in. Clement and Sophie Guerra did the opposite: they cashed in their savings and flew to South America. The result of their deep commitment to listening and learning is the revealing documentary “The Condor and the Eagle,” a film that profiles women leaders of communities most impacted by the fossil fuel industry. It will be screening on Tuesday, April 20, at 6:30 pm. CDT.
Julie Howe interviewed Clement Guerra to learn more about why they made the film and what they learned.
Q: What got you started on this project?
A: Seven years ago, I was an international marketing manager, my wife was a pharmacist and we really wanted to have kids and settle down. But we realized we were not good parent material. We were not wise enough and if we wanted to become better parents and better citizens of the world, that we should travel and learn from those who have some wisdom to share. Coming from privileged societies. . . yes, we are protected and separated from the rest of the world, but actually ignorant in so many ways about other people’s suffering, about community, solidarity, wisdom, spirituality.
Instead of buying more into security, we took all of our savings, and we didn’t buy a house. We didn’t settle down. We flew [to South America] and learned from those who are impacted by our destructive way of life. So that’s why, from the beginning, the idea was not to make a film. We didn’t study film. I’d never touched a camera. The idea was to travel across the continent, and use listening as the theme, moving from one polity to the next. We listened to the people living there who were mostly impacted by the fossil fuel industry. Our goal was to produce very short films and use them to amplify the people’s voices and to support a movement. We did that for a few months. We realized there was a far bigger story to tell.
Our goal as story tellers, as community organizers, is actually to empower impacted communities to speak for themselves and by themselves. That’s why in the film, we dig deep into complex issues without the use of the voice over. The Indigenous women leaders speak in their own voice.
Q: Why did you decide to focus on environmental justice?
A: When I was a kid in the 80s, environmental issues were siloed. People were like: destroying the environment sucks, but there are more important issues. [In making this film] we educated ourselves – we understood that environmental injustice is at the center of so many other injustices. So that’s why our film tackles the intersectional nature of injustices. When you look deeper into our film, it speaks about violence against women, about racism. It’s not only about ecocide, but about destroying cultures. It’s about colonialism. All those topics make our film powerful. For social movements to grow and radically change the world, they need to be intersectional and work across movements.
Q: What were some of the challenges in making the film? Was it hard to gain people’s trust, for example?
A: People trusted us because we made a full commitment to become less stupid and to listen deeply. We committed to stop putting out our own ideas on reality and learn from reality as it is. We realized that true social change, cultural change can only happen if privileged people follow the leadership coming from impacted communities. We learned that we can make a difference if we actually put our resources, our attention, our love and our care, in creative alliance building.
This commitment is to say, “Well I will dedicate my whole life to uplifting the voices of the leaders we don’t see anywhere else.” That’s not difficult. That’s a commitment. If you truly do that, then people trust you, because they know that you’re working on yourself.
I come from the field of Sociology and what fascinated me and still does is how social change happens. It’s very interesting for me to see that although we don’t see much of it on TV, the real actors of change are those that are most impacted.
Esta película está disponible con subtítulos en español.
After the screening, stay connected to discuss the film with:
Discussion Facilitator: Doug Dixon, Principal, Sales Performance Solutions & Neighbor, OUR Community
Panelists:
Casey Camp-Horinek, Councilwoman, and Hereditary Drumkeeper of the Womens’ Scalp Dance Society of the Ponca Nation of Oklahoma; Activist, Environmentalist, Actress; Published Author
Yudith Azareth Nieto (appears in "The Condor and the Eagle"), Co-Founder, BanchaLenguas Language Justice Collective; Core leadership, Another Gulf is Possible Collaborative
Angela Tovar, Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Chicago