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This short film shows how water is a vital element for the Warembungan people in Indonesia. Through the Ruma’mus Ung Gio ritual, they remember the ancestral history of their land and the water sources within it, and take on their roles as guardians of the land.

Kalfein Maikel Wuisan or Kale, is an Indigenous Minahasa youth from Wuwuk, Minahasa, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia. Besides involvement in the Indonesian Alliance of Indigenous Peoples (AMAN), he’s actively involved in short filmmaking and the cultural movement with local artists, humanists and historians to enhance Minahasa culture.

He is the founder of the Smartphone Movement. This movement campaigns and teaches indigenous youth in Minahasa how to use smartphones to protect their community. He is going from village to village and community to community using photography & videography to teach Smartphone Cinematography to young generations in all the villages in Minahasa. He is also participating in the Minahasa youth film community to make their own film festival called FESTIVAL FELEM ORANG GUNUNG.

This film series examines the critical contributions that Indigenous peoples and local communities make to protecting the world’s biodiversity, and complements the Local Biodiversity Outlooks.