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This short film follows up with Penan activists Mutang Tuo and Unga Paren, and Kelabit Mutang Urud, 30 years after they first brought their message of rainforest destruction to the world.
In the fall of 1990, Mutang Urud, Unga Paren, and Mutang Tuo, accompanied by Bruno Manser and other activists, embarked from Sarawak on an international tour to raise awareness for the destruction of their home. The "Voices for the Borneo Rainforest" tour had a number of goals: to raise awareness for rainforest destruction, to call for an immediate end to logging, and to raise funds for humanitarian relief. The most important, however, was to give the Indigenous peoples of Sarawak a direct voice to the world.
Visiting 13 countries and 25 cities, they reached an estimated 120,000 people live throughout the tour, and millions more through television, news, and radio broadcast coverage. The Sarawak delegates met with heads of state, government officials, and religious leaders in the Netherlands, France, the United States, Japan, Canada, Austria, and elsewhere. From Al Gore and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands to The Grateful Dead and Raffi, the group campaigned with some of the most recognizable faces in politics and pop culture.
Though the Tour was a resounding success, raising thousands of dollars for organizations working in rainforest protection and bringing global support for the Indigenous communities of Sarawak, the Malaysian government ultimately ignored the world’s call to action.
More than three decades later, what has changed? Filmmaker Linus Chung investigates this question in his brand new short film.