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In early 2020, the Kichwa people of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon were contending with two centuries-old threats: attempted exploitation of their lands by oil interests, and deadly diseases brought by outsiders. Directed by the Sarayaku Kichwa filmmaker Eriberto Gualinga, The Return follows a family that, amid Ecuador’s devastating COVID-19 crisis, chooses to uproot from their home and journey further into the jungle for protection. Encompassing roughly a year, the short film captures how Indigenous communities in Ecuador are constantly forced to assert their rights to protect their culture and lives. But, resisting familiar ‘Indigenous-peoples-in-peril’ narratives, which often portray such communities as powerless and their cultures as dying, Gualinga’s film celebrates Kichwa resilience, tracking how the family reconnects with ancestral knowledge and reaffirms their spiritual connection to the land – a narrative of perseverance and rebirth that’s underscored by Gualinga’s distinctive perspective as an Indigenous filmmaker.
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Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
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Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes
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Work
A Swedish expat in the Philippines wonders: what’s up with people sleeping at work?
14 minutes
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Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
29 minutes
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Cognition and intelligence
What’s this buzz about bees having culture? Inside a groundbreaking experiment
8 minutes
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Earth science and climate
The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact
22 minutes
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Cosmology
The Indian astronomer whose innovative work on black holes was mocked at Cambridge
13 minutes
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Art
‘If you’re creative, why can’t you create a solution?’ One artist’s imaginative activism
17 minutes
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The ancient world
An ancient Roman’s hilarious (and perhaps relatable) response to a social snub
2 minutes