Villagers struggle to keep their beloved, endangered ape population afloat

Since the 1980s, it’s estimated that the number of western hoolock gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) has plummeted from more than 100,000 to roughly 5,000. Directed by the Indian filmmakers Ragini Nath and Chinmoy Sonowal, the short film Guardians of the Gibbons takes viewers to Barekuri, a cluster of villages nestled in northeast India, to document how humans are both the hoolock gibbons’ greatest existential threat and their last best hope. In particular, the filmmakers focus on how locals – many of whom view the gibbons as family – and researchers studying human-gibbon relationships are working to sustain the longstanding yet delicate equilibrium that has allowed people and gibbons to live in harmony for generations. A nuanced look at the potential and the limitations of grassroots conservation efforts, Guardians of the Gibbons is a precursor to the planned feature-length documentary Our Hoolocks.