Yasuni Man introduces the Waorani people, who are battling oil industry operatives and their own government in a fight to survive. The film follows Mr Killackey and his native friend Otobo as they embark on an expedition into the most biodiverse rainforest on Earth – the Amazon – to meet the Waorani people and raise awareness for their plight. The film highlights the threat of rainforest destruction and human rights violations in the battle over the oil that lies beneath the Waorani’s territory.
Yasuni Man celebrated its world premiere at the 2017 Mill Valley Film Festival where it won the “Audience Award Silver - Valley of the Docs”. This was followed by a win for “Emerging Talent Award” at the Wildscreen Film Festival, the world’s most prestigious wildlife film festival. The film has been translated into 3 languages, including Taiwanese and Spanish, and shown in 11 countries in Europe, Asia and South America. The research conducted in the film has resulted in 8 scientific publications and a partnership with the United Nations Cine-ONU program.
Ryan Killackey was born in Chicago and educated at The University of Montana. He began his career as a wildlife biologist with several research projects, including studying freshwater lake frogs and live trapping and tracking wolverines. While he has also worked as a wilderness ranger at an Alaskan bear observatory, his primary research interest is amphibians. Following several years of working and living in the US, in 2005 he travelled to the Ecuadorian Amazon and began working as a photographer and filmmaker. Mr Killackey has since worked on several film projects for National Geographic, PBS. Giant Screen Films and others. The 2017 documentary Yasuni Man is his first feature film.
Members of the RGS, their guests and others are most welcome to attend this event, which is HK$150 for RGS Members and HK$200 for guests and others, including a complimentary glass of white or red wine.
The Royal Geographical Society - Hong Kong wishes to express its thanks to Jacada Travel for
its generous assistance with this talk.
