Malgorzata "Maggie"
Padlewska
Independent One-Woman-Crew
Documentarian
THE FOLLOW UP
Project Proposal | 2019
IT'S TIME
- Maggie Padlewska
Because I believe that the past has the power to
help inform and inspire our future...
"2009 was the year that changed the trajectory of my professional, and personal, life. It was a decade ago, that I embarked on my first solo journey as an independent video journalist seeking to amplify the voices of indigenous communities around the world..."
A BRIEF MESSAGE
2019 marks 10 YEARS since I first left home in pursuit of stories that the media didn't care about. With your support, I managed to reach, document and share the voices and stories of more than a dozen indigenous, and often remote, communities around the world. And for that - I sincerely THANK YOU!
A decade later, as I write from my temporary base in Cambodia, I can't help to think back at the things I've witnessed and experienced during my fieldwork - including, and most importantly, the profound lessons that I've learned thanks to the courageous people I met along the way...
I now realize, as the world struggles to undo its grave mistakes, of both past and present, that I am sitting on an amazing and unique opportunity to once again attempt to highlight the voices that have the power to contribute greatly to the critical dialogue that is now being awakened globally.
Please allow me to introduce "THE FOLLOW UP"...
Again, I sincerely thank you,
Maggie Padlewska
TREATMENT
THE FOLLOW UP
| THE CONCEPT
OBJECTIVE
My main goal is to explore the impact(s) of the passage of time and inaction on globally-relevant issues as experienced by the individuals I've reached over the past decade. Most have been at the forefront - as the outspoken defenders of the issues consuming our global community today.
WHAT LESSONS CAN BE LEARNED FROM A LACK OF ACTION/TIMELY RESPONSE THE WORLD'S MOST PRESSING AND URGENT PROBLEMS?
EXAMPLE: Episode 3
The Waorani community heeded strong warnings about the environmental and cultural devastation in the Amazon Rainforest since the mid-50s, in 2012. Few cared to listen then...
APPROACH
REAL PEOPLE, REAL STORIES, AUTHENTIC EXAMPLES & CASES
Utilizing my collection of archives
(gathered since 2009), I aim to produce a short-form documentary series consisting of 12 episodes, each focusing on and highlighting a community's particular issue to ultimately reveal present-day outcomes and realities.
I SINCERELY BELIEVE THAT
REVISITING URGENT STORIES OF THE PAST HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF CONTRIBUTING GREATLY TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ACTIONS WE TAKE AS A GLOBAL COMMUNITY NOW DESPERATELY
SEEKING TO UNDO AND PREVENT MISTAKES OF THE PAST.
WHY?
The combination of experiences, observations, stories and warnings documented in the past with a present day follow up, has the potential to contribute greatly to today's critical dialogues on the state of humanity and our planet.
As the world seeks solutions to its many problems, revisiting the past can help highlight urgency.
HOW HAVE THE ISSUES,
THAT NOW CONCERN PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, IMPACTED THE LIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL
AND CULTURAL DEFENDERS
OVER RECENT YEARS?
EXAMPLE: Episode 4
Discriminated as a "lazy and penniless" community, the Guaymi community led the revitilization/reforestation project on Costa Rica's southern-most peninsula. "We could not have done it without them (their knowledge)" said an American Arborist.
(AFTER ALL THESE YEARS)
If you had a message for the world today,
what would it be?
LEARNING FROM THE WORLD'S INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
|The World's Most Significant Cultural and Environmental Defenders
THE FOLLOWING ARE BRIEF SUMMARIES OF THE COMMUNITIES BEING REACHED / GLOBAL ISSUES EXPLORED
CULTURAL TOURISM: Exploitation or Education?
EMBERA COMMUNITY (PANAMA)
ISSUE: Forced out of their traditional lands due to threats and government polices that banned indigenous communities from hunting, Embera people turned to cultural tourism as a way to sustain their families./ TODAY: Has cultural tourism benefited or harmed this ancient society?
CURABLE DISEASES: Basic healthcare, a Human Right?
NGOBE BUGLE COMMUNITY (PANAMA)
ISSUE: DR. Charles Czarnowski said that "the right to be free of easily curable diseases is a HUMAN RIGHT." / TODAY: Are remote indigenous communities receiving the care they so desperately needed a decade ago? Has the overall health of the Nogbe Bugle community improved or worsened since 2009?
TRADITIONAL WISDOM: Enduring Discrimination
GUAYMI COMMUNITY (COSTA RICA)
ISSUE: The Guaymi community faced significant discrimination from the non-indigenous population as it sought to revitalize and save a forest devastated by ranchers. / TODAY: Have perceptions changed, and have the community's environmental work, knowledge and contributions been recognized?
PROTESTS, MARCHES & HUMAN RIGHTS: Idle No More
FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES (CANADA)
ISSUE: On December 11, 2012, Chief Theresa Spence began what would become a six-week hunger strike in protest of Canada's treatment of indigenous people - triggering significant dialogue, awareness and mass movements across the country./ TODAY: How does the former Chief see the state of affairs today? Has/is enough being done?
LAST SPEAKERS: What do we lose when a language dies?
RAMA COMMUNITY (NICARAGUA)
ISSUE: In 2013, Walter Ortiz Ruiz was one of about a dozen living speakers of the ancient and undocumented Rama language. / TODAY: Have efforts to document and revive Rama been successful? Why are indigenous languages important? What does the world lose when a language dies?
INDIGENOUS RIGHTS: Consultation - It's the Law
NAK'AZDLI COMMUNITY (CANADA)
ISSUE: The Nak'azdli community was never properly consulted and never fully agreed to a resource extraction project on their territory. / TODAY: What have been the cultural and environmental impacts of resource extraction, and the unlawful entry of a wealthy company, on this First Nations community?
'MODERN' DEVELOPMENT: The Real Cost of Walls
AMAZIGH COMMUNITY (MOROCCO)
ISSUE: The Atlantic coastline of Morocco was once a significant migratory route for North Africa's Amazigh community - interrupted abruptly in 2014 by the development of resorts catering strictly to the wealthy elite./ TODAY: What has been the impact of development on the local and nomadic communities, cultures and traditions in the area?
ENVIRONMENT/AMAZON: The Real Cost of Negligence
WAORANI COMMUNITY (ECUADOR)
ISSUE: The greatest defenders of the Amazon rainforest heeded warnings of irreversible environmental and cultural damage for decades. Few cared to listen in 2012. / TODAY: What has been the impact of the world's lack of action until now?
ENVIRONMENT
CULTURAL SURVIVAL
HEALTHCARE
TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE
HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
DEVELOPMENT/MIGRATION
INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE
UNITED IN RESISTANCE: A "Bloodstained" Operation
XINKA COMMUNITY (GUATEMALA)
ISSUE: A Canadian-owned mining company proceeds aggressively with its resource extraction project despite being opposed by the local communities in San Rafael De Las Flores. / TODAY: The resistance movement proved courageous, relentless and committed.
What can the world learn from the Xinka and local communities in Guatemala?
HUMAN RIGHTS
HUMAN RIGHTS
ASSASSINATION OF A GLOBAL DEFENDER: Unsolved
LENCA COMMUNITY (HONDURAS)
ISSUE: World-renowned human rights activist and environmentalist, Berta Caceres was assassinated in her home on March 3, 2016 - fuelling global outrage and mass protests around the world. / TODAY: Four years later, those responsible for her murder have yet to be brought to justice.
CULTURAL SURVIVAL
BANNED FROM TRADITION: "We survive by hunting..."
SAN COMMUNITY (NAMIBIA)
ISSUE: The Namibian government imposed strict rules on hunting threatening the survival of Africa's oldest tribes and culture. / TODAY: How have the past five years impacted the community's struggle to maintain its traditional lifestyle and culture?
CULTURAL SURVIVAL
CULTURAL WARRIORS: Undefeated
KUNA COMMUNITY (KUNA YALA)
ISSUE: Forced out of their traditional territory on the mainland, the Kuna community settled on islands of the coast of Panama. / TODAY: They have been successful in defending their culture in the past, does their resilience remain as strong today?
IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THIS PROJECT,
I would love to hear from you!
THANK YOU!
YOU CAN ALSO SUPPORT THIS PROJECT ON PATREON
(page not officially launched but there...if you'd like)