Powerlands (2022) is a story of an investigation that deals with the dislocation of Indigenous people, as well as the destruction of the atmosphere by some chemical corporations.
The film is a political narrative of Camille Manybeads Tso, an award-winning queer Navajo director, who learns from Aboriginal activists of three different continents. The narrative is also a personal journey because Tso’s birthplace is exploited by the same chemical corporations.
The Corporations
Tso’s newly released film, Powerlands narrates how companies like Peabody, one of the world’s largest corporations, have destroyed her birthplace. She also links with Aboriginal groups in the Philippines, Colombia, and Mexico who are also struggling the same to save their lands. The film is about the Aboriginal peoples who are fighting to protect the Earth.
The Struggle
According to the director of the film, the film is for Aboriginals people by Aboriginal people to represent their struggle globally. Because of Peabody coal and BHP, the process of desertification has taken place. Every day, thousands of gallons of water were pulled by the companies. As a result, underground water resources are depleted. Because of the depletion, the plants are dying.
The Message
For Tso, to carry her name means to carry the world forward as well. He also gave an account of her upbringing and education that she was taught to consider herself a sheepherder because she does not own the Earth. Instead, she was raised to believe that she belongs to the Earth. She believes people need to make the Earth better by trying their best. And, in her opinion, one of the ways to do that is to stop climate change immediately by stopping the extraction of resources.
Powerlands, in American Documentary and Animation Film Festival 2022, won the award for Best Feature Film. More films like this one can bring positive change to the fight against the climate crisis.
