Yasuni Man, Friday Harbor Film Festival’s next offering in The Director Series, focuses on the conflict between oil companies and native Waorani people in South America.
In the depths of South America, where the Andes, the Amazon, and the Equator collide, a wilderness exists that is one of Earth’s most bio-diverse areas – a place where mammals (including humans), birds, plants, and amphibians all thrive. Yasuni Man documents a conflict raging deep within this area, pitting biodiversity and human rights against extractive industries and human consumption. The Waorani people who inhabit this forest Eden were once under siege by missionaries seeking to civilize them; now they are facing industry operatives and their own government in their fight to survive. Join filmmaker Killackey and his native friend Otobo as they explore what may be lost as oil companies encroach, human rights violations run rampant, and the wilderness is destroyed - all for the oil that lies beneath this not yet exploited land. For a preview, watch the trailer here. View the film free on Thursday, August 25 from 6:30 to 9 pm at www.fhff.org. Stream it on demand from August 26 through September 7 for $1.95.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Ryan Patrick Killackey
Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Writer
A Chicago native and graduate of The University of Montana, Killackey started his career as a wildlife biologist on various research projects studying frogs in freshwater lakes, tracking and live trapping wolverines, and as a wilderness ranger at a bear observatory in Alaska, but his passion was with amphibians and reptiles.
After several years in the US, this passion lead him to the Ecuadorian Amazon, and his transition to photography and film began in 2005. He has since worked on several projects for National Geographic, PBS Nature, Giant Screen Films (3D/IMAX), Yale E360, and many others.
Ryan works as a camera operator for ABC News at their Times Square Studio in New York City. He resides in Brooklyn where he is working on several projects including a horror film, a historical fiction television series, as well as his next feature documentary, A Light in the Darkness.
Yasuni Man is Killackey’s first feature film.
ABOUT POLLYWOG PRODUCTIONS
Pollywog Productions is an award-winning media company founded by filmmaker and photographer Ryan Patrick Killackey. We produce content for the web, the big screen, or anywhere in between. We specialize in wildlife conservation, human rights, and global health media.
Pollywog Productions offers an array of photographic and film services and is available for assignments. We also maintain an extensive photo and video library across a broad range of subjects and may be able to immediately furnish many photographic needs.
Our projects have taken us around the world: Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Suriname, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Morocco, Mozambique, Madagascar, Western Europe, and throughout the United States.
Learn more at yasuniman.com.
