Monkeys shriek from the treetops above, while the undergrowth chirps, trills and rustles without pause. Against the ceaseless aural backdrop of the rainforest, in colourful T-shirts and rubber boots, a group of Indigenous Achuar children set off to find bananas and other fruits. Playful yet self-reliant, they move through the endless green lushness, machetes in hand. Along the Pastaza River on the border between Ecuador and Peru, they spend their days hunting and fishing, cooking, swinging from vines, spinning home-made tops on the solar panels in their village, or gathered around a smartphone watching videos. With a calm, quiet gaze, Inês T. Alves follows the close-knit collective as they live a life in harmony with the environment.

Inês T. Alves’ debut feature-length documentary ‚Águas do Pastaza‘ is all the more refreshing. The film explores the concept of children’s maturity in an empowering and hopeful way, where children are exposed more to nature than to technology, and childhood takes on a different definition. (Modern Times Review)