Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle (2021)

Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle is a documentary short about indigenous-led conservation efforts to bring back the endangered Harpy Eagle to the remote Darién Gap rainforest in Panamá. The Emberá tribal community of Playa Muerto live here, in one of the last untouched rainforests in Central America-the only break in the 19,000-mile Pan-American Highway, which winds from Alaska to Argentina. The film is an exploration of a renewed relationship between the tribe and the great raptor, in the face of threats to the species and its ecosystem from deforestation and encroachment from loggers. From the development of collaborative monitoring practices to the revival of an ancient Eagle Dance, this incredible relationship is a model for conserving both a culture and a rainforest. The film was made in partnership with the Emberá of Playa Muerto and The Peregrine Fund, who work tirelessly in Panamá and around the world alongside various indigenous peoples to help save birds of prey from extinction.