00:00

Sunset and river tracking.

Children jumping in river.

Music/FX: African drums.

300 years ago, men, women and children were kidnapped in their thousands; stolen from Africa and brought here to South America as slaves.

Hundreds and thousands died of tropical disease, overwork and brutal treatment.

But, some of them escaped. From sugar plantations on the coast, they headed inland along this river to set up their own free kingdom.

And I had heard it still exists. Deep in the heart of the South American jungle – an African paradise.

FX: Children laughing.

01:10

MAP

Smoke and fire.

FX: African Drums.

To get to this particular paradise you must first go by the way of Paramaribo. 

And it’s here in the capital that you first get a glimmer that the paradise down south is under threat.

For beneath the surface of this seemingly laid-back Caribbean community lies a heady brew of politics, money and corruption.

01:45

Super: Ernie Brunings, Opposition MP.

Brunings

“Some people go as far to say that what we have now is the mafia is now in government misusing public money for their own purpose.”

02:02

Political Rally, speech.

Music: Bob Marley.

The president is Jules Wijddenbosch, the man in black. But it’s the man in his left, Desir Bouterse, who is the power broker.

Former military commander, coup leader and ex head of state Bouterse who pulls the strings.

02:32

And it’s Bouterse, not the president, who gives the keynote address here, in his own inimitable style.

02:47

Bouterse singing and dancing.

Music.

INTERVIEW

Clark

You have the chairman of the MBP Desir Bouterse currently wanted by Interpol, on drug charges, surely that must be very embarrassing for the government.

Brunings

Oh it is, in our contacts with the outside world, right now we have a very serious political situation with Holland, and the cause of that is Interpol demanding from Holland to arrest Desir Bouterse on drug charges.

03:26

Bouterse speech.

It’s not the first time Bouterse has offended the international community. In 1982, unhappy with criticism, he and his lieutenants rounded up 15 of his political opponents and murdered them in the local museum.

He now stands accused not just of drug involvement but of selling off the country’s natural resources for his own benefit.

03:46

Brunings

“It becomes a very difficult decision if you are a poor country and you want to sell your natural resources, in this case timber, and you get a lot of money for it. Even then there is the question, should you do it, does all the money warrant the destruction of a valuable rainforest. But, in our case we don’t even get some money from it, so it’s criminal actually.

Road.

Shaking gear stick.

Stan Malone.

Travelling.

Logs by the side of the road.

Trucks carrying logs from logging.

Timber etc.

Music.

Having had an introduction to the political context we headed South on our quest.

The road to paradise was rough.

We’re travelling with Stan Malone of Conservation International, one of several groups trying to save the forests of Suriname.

The Suriname government recently, proudly announced a reserve covering 10% of the country. Critics responded that this meant open slather on the other 90%.

They also point to extraordinary deals the government has done with foreign companies. Many companies, especially from Asia, have been granted suspiciously cheap leases to extract timber.

05:36

Stan Malone

“It’s a locally registered company called Tacoba but mainly with expats from China working here.”

When a foreign company finds an exploitable resource the locals are simply forced to move from their lands. (These people have been moved before, now it’s happening again.)

05:49

Stan Malone

“They were moved in the name of development, yes, when it was bauxite and the hydro had to be built and these villages are known as transmigration villages.

06:05

Arrival at the river.

We had driven south to the village of Pokigron, the rest of our journey to the furthermost and most traditional village of the Saramaccan would be by river.

As we headed up the river we could hear the sound of timber cutters in the jungle.

“There’s logging, you can hear the chainsaws.”

07:00

Boat making with fire.

(The descendents of the escaped slaves are known as Marron from “cimarron” – Spanish for runaway cattle – understandably they prefer to be known as Saramaccan.)

With virtually no way for an individual to earn money in this region – people are totally dependent on the jungle. Everything comes from the forest.

07:15

Back on the river.

Jan Meyer

“So does western science know all of the plants in here?”

“We have discovered about 70 species that have never been recorded.”

Jan Meyer is a forestry worked turned conservationist.

“One of the plant species that have been collected, they have discovered two new molecules.”

07:45

Clark

In just one hectare here can be found more different tree species than in all of North America – and on one tree can be found as many species of ant to exist in all of England.

08:04

Kid with wheelbarrow.

We were to spend the night in Gunsi a small Saramaccan village nestled on the banks of the Surinam river.

08:16

Clark dives in river

The river is apparently swarming with piranha and caiman, a type of crocodile

It adds a certain zest at bath time.

08:23

Clark washing in river

But I was not really being foolhardy – I knew that the shamans around her had put a spell on the river.

08:33

Jan Meyer

“The piranhas, they eat people but it seems like in a cultural, spiritual way the Saramaccan people have them under control.”

08:48

Villagers carrying ‘oracle’.

There has been a death in the village….a young woman.

08:55

Jan Meyer

“The Saramaccan people they believe in reincarnation, here they can control the reincarnation.”

09:02

Clark

Before she can be buried, this oracle is carried around the village to determine in what form she will return, and asking her if she is content with her death.

09:13

Jan Meyer

“What is the cause of your death? Has someone done some black magic on you, or have you died by natural cause?”

09:23

Kabiten

The head man – the ‘Kabiten’ had agreed to let us film, but had made it clear that he wanted something in return. He didn’t say just what.

09:34

River at dusk

09:42

There’s not much to do in Gunsi on a Friday night….in western terms.

The Kabiten dropped by for an evening drink.

09:50

Clark

“Chief have a drink”

09:58

A courtesy call. I was half expecting a discussion on African culture but the Kabiten had other things on his mind.

10:06

Kabiten

*Inaudible*

Clark

“Who’s got money?”

Kabiten

“Australia and Canada”

10:22

Singing and dancing

Meanwhile in the heat of the jungle night, the people of Gunsi celebrated and mourned the passing of one of their own.

10:43

River and Dramatic misty morning

10:49

Travelling on boat

The treatment suffered by these people’s ancestors was horrific.

Escaped slaves were hunted down by the plantation owners – dragged back in the shackles. Public hangings by meat hook, beheadings, burnings were common in the public square of Paramaribo.

11:08

Boat POV on river rapids.

Daily life on the river

People in canoes

We were entering the most traditional area of the Saramaccan. Contact with the outside world here has been quite limited.

Yan had warned me that we could not film without permission.

11:26

Misty river shots

People in boats/canoes

Boat POV

Yan

“If you take a picture of one person, you can spiritually harm that person.”

Clark

“And if you take a picture without permission what happens?”

Yan

“Then the whole village will beat you up, that’s the worst punishment.”

Clark

“I understand.”

Yan

“In the past they use also the whip, but now that’s the past.”

10:46

And so we arrive in Asindoopo, and here the filming stopped.

11:54

Man starting motor boat

After two days of being unable to film, I was waiting for a miracle. It came in the form of the Bashar, or spiritual leader who had come to take me for further negotiations across the river. This time we were allowed to film.

12:17

Negotiations with Kabiten

The Kabiten wanted money and understandably; the villagers here are impoverished. They have nothing but the jungle and the river; the outside world is their only source of cash.

Clark

“Could you explain to him that I don’t want to pay them to put on a specific show, I would prefer to only film something that is going to happen naturally.”

Finally deal was struck – we could film the women in the fields. We could film the women celebrating. And for final good measure an interview with the Kabiten himself.

12:56

Women working in field.

While the men have been negotiating, the women have been working.

13:03

Women singing and dancing

The Bashar and the Kabiten then proceeded to give me what they thought I wanted – a cultural performance, a demonstration of their African traditions.

But as fascinating as this time capsule of African culture might be – it was not this community’s past that interested me, but it’s future.

13:33

Village girls and women.

Last December, a group representing a logging firm owner by the Suharto family in Indonesia  had suddenly arrived in helicopters under armed military escort and with official government leases to inspect the timber in this region.

13:50

Clark

“Did they know, just before Christmas there would be people coming with military and official leases to take an inventory around here?”

Kabiten (through translator)

He doesn’t like the way it happened, coming without their knowledge. There should be an agreement between them and the government.

They need development in this area, they need money to buy clothing, food and other stuff. Exploiting the forest must be done in a durable [sustainable] way.

But the people here will find it difficult to resist the advances of a wealthy multi-national company.

14:37

INTERVIEW – Brunings

Brunings

“We’ve seen them operate in south east Asia and their modus operandi has been corrupting government officials and then going ahead and doing as they very well please.”

14:46

Villagers in boats/canoes on river

For the moment, the Saramaccan are being spared the invasion. With economic turmoil in Indonesia the company involved has put their project on the back burner….for the time being.

15:03

Villagers playing in river/swimming

For three centuries these people have seen this jungle as their own; a refuge from the outside world that once enslaved them, but the outside world is closing in.