Michael Werner: Tell us about the origins of TV Indigena. What inspired you to create an all-indigenous TV network?

Iniquilipi Chiari-Lombardo: I started to get involved with the leadership of my territory in 2007, and I gained a lot of experience with leadership and participating in assemblies. That was also when I started to travel and see more of the larger indigenous movement. I realized two things: how important it is to communicate the work that the leaders are doing in the territories because sometimes the people don't know what their leaders are doing or trying to achieve. So, my cousin Olo Villalaz and I, we said, “What about showing the people what they’re working on?”

And the other thing is the need for a dedicated space to tell these stories because if you go to the big news company TV shows, you get just a small share of time. Maybe they can give you one or two minutes and that's it. So TV Indigena is a space that indigenous peoples can have their own time and they can explain things how they would like to explain them.

MW: Can you give us an example of how TV Indigena's coverage differs from mainstream media?

ICL: Right now, there is a community that is moving to the mainland in Panama from Gardi Sugdub (an island in the archipelago of Gunayala an indigenous territory). A lot of big media companies like ABC, BBC and CNN – they came because it was like, “Indigenous people, they are moving to Panama because of climate change and rising sea levels." Those big companies, they kind of sell the narrative that they are, like, moving for climate change.

But very few of them ask the proper people or dig into the topic to understand what's really going on.

So we did some real explaining of what’s happening. First of all, you know the islands are overpopulated. They’re crowded. So that community (of Gardi Sugdub) started to think about moving to the mainland because there’s not more space for families. And they are surrounded by water, which is now even deeper. And so the government came to them and said, “We have a housing project for you,” because sometimes government officials in Latin America will make deals with their friends because they can make money off of it.

They didn't allow the indigenous leaders of the community to plan the move. They just built one really big neighborhood with concrete houses and no trees. They didn’t plan for water issues or what’s going to happen with the trash. But the only news the world got was that the indigenous are moving because of climate change. Of course, that’s part of the story. But we try to show the truth about what’s really happening there.

MW: Tell us about the production process at TV Indigena. How do these videos get made?

ICL: In the beginning, I was the editor of the videos for TV Indigena, and we were also filming things all over with my own personal camera and our own personal budget. But we believed since the beginning that TV Indigena has to be for everyone, not just indigenous communities in Panama.

Nowadays we have a main editor of our videos, Norlando Meza, a young Guna man, as well as people from different territories around South America – Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia and Central America like Honduras and Nicaragua – who are contributors to our network. Also, we have been doing free workshops about how to use Facebook properly as a community.

MW: How has technology impacted indigenous communities and your ability to share their stories?

ICL: Well, I remember those times just before cell phones arrived. We used to get radio (in the indigenous communities) but we didn’t have TV. So we were more focused on our culture, focused on daily life, until all the technology arrived. Now the people have TV at home. They have satellite internet. Almost everyone uses WhatsApp. And sometimes we prepare our videos in a low resolution that people can share through WhatsApp. So the access to technology has changed a lot, and it’s easier to reach people with short videos. That's helped to develop TV Indigena.

MW: How do you ensure that TV Indigena represents the diverse indigenous voices and perspectives?

ICL: First of all, the leaders, sometimes they call us to cover activities. So we try to go there for those. When we’re there in the communities we also try to find local people to become contributors. It could be anyone, maybe someone who loves to speak in front of the camera or in front of a cell phone, and we ask them if they’d like to cover events in their territory.

But we are there because we’re invited by the leaders. And that's because they now recognize us and they want to be on TV Indigena.

MW: What advice do you have for filmmakers or journalists who want to better represent indigenous perspectives in their work?

ICL: First of all, I would tell them to read at least the beginning of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, the first few articles that talk about self-governance and self-identity. Then if they travel to any indigenous territory, they could talk to one of the chiefs, ask for their permission for what they’d like to do. Then they could also ask the chief if they know people in that community who would like to talk and maybe act as a translator. I know for international news companies, it's hard to find people in these indigenous territories who speak English. However, if you get a person who can facilitate the communication, then you get the right perspective and information from the indigenous people.

MW: What changes would you like to see in mainstream media coverage of indigenous issues?

ICL: I’d like to see more coverage. We're trying hard to gather all the news about indigenous people we can, but imagine if big news companies had multiple articles per month dedicated to indigenous people and issues. Or a program in big mainstream news companies, like a 30-minute or one-hour news program, about these issues. That would be a great way to enhance indigenous participation and voices.

I would also love to see more people covering the indigenous position on climate change and biodiversity issues and explaining the position of the indigenous caucus. Those are issues we don't have a voice in the official negotiations, but are important to us and we want to keep our rights on. I’d like to see more reporting on indigenous perspectives on these issues from these big news companies.

MW: The final question is something we like to ask all our guests. What's the best advice you've received in your career or life that you’d like to pass on to our readers?

ICL: The best advice I could give to anyone, whether they're indigenous or non-indigenous, is if you want something, go and ask for it. If you go to talk with any director (of a company or government agency) and they tell you they're busy, stay there until you get an answer. The only thing you'll receive is a yes or a no, but at least you got an answer. Otherwise, you'll be waiting and waiting for an email.

If you believe in something, go for it and be persistent. The main thing you have is your passion for something you want to do. This has been the TV Indigena way – we have a passion for telling indigenous narratives. It's okay if we don't have a studio or nice cameras because we are opening our own path. Maybe it's going to take longer than others who have funds, but we're doing it with passion and love because we believe the answer for so many things that are going on in the world today are already there in indigenous territories.

MW: It's been great chatting with you and hearing about TV Indigena. Your insights on indigenous media representation are really thought-provoking.

ICL: Thanks for having me. I've enjoyed our conversation and appreciate the chance to share our story.

Have an idea for a Reel Truth guest? Send Michael a note directly! Rough Cut Mag is edited by Monica Gokey.

Rough Cut Magazine is VC's digital mag for and by industry thought leaders, doc filmmakers, and video journalists across the world.