I am the river, the river is me

Petr Lom, New Zealand
88 min. – 2024 – Documentary – Ten Thousand Images

For the Māori, the Whanganui is a living being – their ancestor. This belief was institutionalized by New Zealand law in 2017. Granting the river the status of a legal person is both a means of environmental protection and a legal validation of the Māori worldview.
This film is an invitation to experiment with these values: to see our relationship with the world around us – and above all with the natural world – as an intergenerational responsibility of care and custody, rather than simply one of ownership, use or extraction.
Produced over a period of three years, in close collaboration with the Māori of Whanganui, this film is a positive and urgent call to action for the rights of nature.