National Geographic explorer Elizabeth Unger makes her feature film debut with Tigre Gente, a stirring documentary that examines the rise of illegal jaguar trade in Bolivia fuelled by Chinese demand. Tigre Gente had its online world premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
The film takes a split narrative approach as it chronicles two very different individuals with a shared goal of investigating and combatting an international network of illegal jaguar trade. Marcos, the Director of Bolivia’s majestic Madidi National Park, works with his team of rangers and the police to crack down on hunters killing jaguars and selling the parts to Chinese smugglers. Across the globe Laurel, a Chinese investigative journalist, seeks to uncover the reasons behind the surge in illicit demand for jaguar teeth in China and Myanmar and reflects on her own social responsibilities in curbing China’s pervasive wildlife trafficking.
Marcos has dedicated his life to protecting Madidi and the jaguars that call it home. The most biodiverse protected area on the planet, Madidi has one of the densest jaguar populations in South America. Not only are the big cats culturally important, they are essential to the balance of the park’s ecosystem. While we only catch a few fleeting glimpses of the Madidi predator in its natural element, we nevertheless feel its presence and impact as Marcos integrates Bolivian legends and culture around jaguars into the film, as well as delves into his own spiritual connection to the big cats.
The film’s title, Tigre Gente, is itself a reference to the name in Bolivian legend for people who turn into jaguars. Marcos describes his work as a deep calling within him and explains that as a child, when he tried and failed to turn into a jaguar as per the legend, he promised to protect the fierce animals for the rest of his life. Marcos’ stories and evident spiritual connection to the natural world around him provide a richness and ethereal element to the documentary, particularly when combined with the stunning aerial shots of the misty Madidi mountains, the snaking river, and lush jungle canopy.
Meanwhile in China, Laurel receives a tip about the appearance of illicit jaguar parts on the Chinese market and works to uncover the reasons behind the new trade. An experienced wildlife trafficking investigator, Laurel feels a responsibility to raise awareness about these issues because they’re fuelled by Chinese demand and influence. She discovers that jaguar teeth are being secretly passed off as tiger due to their strong resemblance and the lack of tiger available to meet Chinese demand. The country’s pervasive wildlife trafficking has decimated tiger populations and endangered the species, causing it to be increasingly rare and valuable on the Chinese market. Laurel takes a broader look at China’s wildlife trafficking as well as its connection to traditional Chinese culture. She engages her parents in the conversation, leading Laurel to reflect on her past and her social responsibilities as a conservationist hoping to affect change in a country fuelling illegal wildlife trade.
At certain points in the film it feels like David versus Goliath as Marcos and Laurel exist independently from one another, just two individuals trying to tackle a widespread international underground network. We keep wondering when Marcos and Laurel will cross paths and unite in their shared fight, but they never do. However, the film reminds us that no effort is too small and every individual can make a difference, as Marcos and Laurel each contribute to dismantling the trade in their own way; Marcos plays a crucial role in a police raid while Laurel speaks at children’s schools in hopes of educating the next generation to protect wildlife.
Tigre Gente doesn’t expand on the jaguar’s role in nature or the significance of Madidi as a protected area, despite the camera luring us in with beautiful cinematography. Instead, the film focuses on individual human efforts to prevent the jaguar’s demise and sheds some light on the issue of wildlife trafficking as it pertains to Bolivia and China. Although the singular focus of the film lacks some broader context around illegal wildlife trade and its impacts across all communities including Madidi, Tigre Gente provides a different human and cultural perspective on the issue that rallies viewers around Marcos and Laurel. The film is a solid introduction to the issues of illegal jaguar trade and wildlife trafficking as a whole, leaving viewers with a strong desire to learn more and ultimately demand change.
Score: B
© 2021. UniversalCinema Mag.