‘A struggle for us all’: new film reveals light and shade of fight for Amazon

Puyr Tembé in her cocar headdress with her team of forest guardians. ‘We protect 80% of the remaining biodiversity on the planet,’ she says of her fellow Indigenous people. ‘At least 600 of us land defenders have been murdered since 2014.’ Photograph: Fernanda Luna/We Are Guardians

A UN report in 2021 described the Indigenous peoples of Latin America as the “best guardians” of the rainforests. Now, a new documentary, We Are Guardians, tells the story of those in Brazil fighting to protect their land from deforestation.

The film, which premiered on Netflix in Latin America, is due to be screened in London on 15 March as part of the Human Rights Watch film festival. It is co-directed by the Indigenous Brazilian activist Edivan Guajajara and the environmental journalists Rob Grobman and Chelsea Greene. Leonardo DiCaprio was an executive producer.