In the fertile lands of Rio Grande, near Chone, peasant communities struggle to protect their ancestral heritage - buried under megaprojects - while sustaining the local economy with their crops. An intimate portrait of resistance where memory and progress collide.

Chone

Only 8 km from the city of Chone, Manabí, extends Rio Grande: a vital micro-watershed of tropical forest where history, identity and resistance converge.

Fertile land, living memory

Its more than 1,700 families live from crops that feed the region and even reach other countries. But under that productive land lies another treasure: archaeological remains of ancient cultures -vessels, chimney tombs- that emerge with each excavation, ignored by megaprojects.

The paradox

While water and culture flow in Rio Grande, institutions look the other way. Communities organized since 1997 struggle to protect their heritage, while young people become improvised guardians of a history that the State does not safeguard.

CHONE is a journey to a territory where progress clashes with memory, and where resistance is planted like tangerines.

Short

Ficha Técnica / Technical Details

Título en español: Chone
Título en inglés: Chone

Produccion general / General Production: Luis Herrera R, Instituto de Estudios Ecuatprianos IEE

Dirección / Directed: Luis Herrera R., Andrew James Benson
Dirección de Fotografía / Cinematography: Luis Herrera R., Andrew James Benson
Guión / Screenplay: Luis Herrera R., Andrew James Benson
Sonido Directo / Direct Sound: Luis Herrera R., Andrew James Benson
Producción de Campo / Field Production: Luis Herrera R.
Edición / Editing: Andrew James Benson
Colorización / Color Grading: Andrew James Benson
Mezcla de sonido / Sound Mixing: Andrew James Benson

Genero / Genre: Documental / Documentary
Formato / Format: HD 16:9
Duración / Runtime: 5:59 minutos / 5:59 minutes

CHONE is a journey to the forgotten heart of Manabí, where the dead still teach how to sow.

This short film was born as a tool of resistance: one of the first pieces that I co-directed with the outstanding director and producer and my friend Andrew, adding our voices to the struggle for the defense of Rio Grande and its people. More than an audiovisual project, it was a political act, part of a collective strategy to make territorial resistance visible.