Oriana Camara just couldn’t get past what she was seeing and hearing.
It was the summer of 2019 and she was on a school sanctioned trip in Ecuador through Wheaton College, where she is now wrapping up her senior year. She was there for school – mostly to study biology, Hispanic culture and anthropology in the South American country. And she was struck by what was happening to the indigenous people that called the country’s rain forests home.
Yasuni National Park is one of the most biodiverse places on Earth, Camara said, home to more than 5,000 plant and animal species – and thousands of indigenous peoples. It also sits atop nearly a billion barrels of crude oil, where drilling is destroying a way of life.
She wanted to tell the story, but not using her words. She wanted those who were directly affected to share their experiences so she could create a film to be consumed by a broader audience.
“I went there with the idea to make a film I could bring back,” Camara said.
Camara’s “Yasuni National Park: The Power Belongs to the People” features her tour guide in Ecuador, Froylan, who identifies as Quechua – a group of South American people from Peru and parts of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador.
“The mission of my work is to return the power to the individual who can tell their story best,” Camara said. “To be a storyteller and help others share their stories.”
It was only a seven minute film, but one she felt told a powerful tale of what is happening in a far away place. So she submitted it to a few film festivals after filming over the summer and taking a few months to edit. Camara never expected to hear anything back – at least nothing more than a thanks but no thanks.
Then a few weeks ago, Camara was how she described “so surprised” to learn she had earned the top prize at the college level in the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest. According to the contest’s judging criteria, films from students in grade 12 and above will be judged on their ability to educate, inspire, and raise awareness of the film’s chosen topic. Camara’s prize was $1,000, plus a $1,000 matching gift that she will donate to Amazon Watch.
“It’s a really great platform to create conversations about topics that are otherwise difficult to talk about,” Camara said. “It’s a powerful tool to educate.”
Camara’s film was one of 196 total submissions from students ages 8 to 25 this year. It will premiere as part of the One Earth Film Festival awards event on Saturday, March 7, at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., Chicago.
Her capstone project for her senior year is a short fictional story about the anxiety associated with being a college senior – when you’re not really considered a kid anymore but not yet quite viewed as an adult.
When she was in high school, Camara started a project called the People of Peterborough, where she’d interview strangers on the street. It stemmed from a series she had seen called Humans of New York. That was really when Camara realized her love of engaging with people was something that needed to be a part of her life.
After graduating from ConVal in 2015, Camara took a gap year where she was an au pair for a family in Spain. She spent the year documenting her travels and interactions in a new country, navigating a foreign country and learning to adjust to an ever-changing language barrier.
“Really what it was like living with a host family,” Camara said.
With graduation just a couple months away, Camara has started thinking about what she wants to do with her life. Having always been drawn to the visual arts with a specific interest in film making, Camara is hoping to land a video editing job or work in marketing for a nonprofit. But her dream job would be to create documentaries for National Geographic and use her platform to tell more stories – by the people who have lived them.