Earth Today | New Cockpit Country documentary premieres this weekend

A NEW documentary is being released to the public, offering an unflinching look at the years-long effort to save one of Jamaica and the Caribbean’s most ecologically and culturally significant gems, the Cockpit Country.

“The documentary is part of a much larger effort to document the history of the Save Cockpit Country Movement, one of Jamaica’s longest-running and most successful environmental movements,” explained activist film-maker Esther Figueroa, adding that the premiere will take place on July 4 at Café Rosa in Kingston.

“Last year, we launched both a long-form and a short-form publication that captured the movement’s history, strategies, and reflections. This film is the next phase of that work,” she noted.

The film – which will also be screened on July 10 at Great Huts in Portland as part of the Portie Film Festival – brings together the voices of community members, environmental advocates, scientists, researchers, and others to tell the story of the Cockpit Country through compelling visuals and firsthand accounts.

“The movement spans decades, and its story exists across newspaper articles, reports, photographs, personal collections, and people’s memories. We recognised that if we didn’t intentionally document that history, valuable knowledge could be lost. We, therefore, brought together many of the people who helped shape the movement to reflect on what happened, why it mattered, and what others can learn from it,” added Figueroa, who has spent two decades producing media campaigns and making content for and about the movement while also helping to support the organisation of community resistance.

“The documentary offers another way to tell that story. Different people engage with information in different ways, so we want this important history to be accessible through film, as well as print, and, eventually, through a broader archive,” she said.

The hope, Figueroa noted, is that audiences gain a deeper appreciation for the Cockpit Country – the source for freshwater used by 40 per cent of Jamaicans and reportedly supporting the largest number of globally threatened species of any key biodiversity area in the Caribbean Islands Hotspot, with 59, including 11 amphibians and 40 plant species – and the people behind the movement.

“This is not simply a story about one campaign. It is a story about how people come together to protect something they value. We hope viewers feel inspired but also leave with practical insights that can inform other environmental and social-justice efforts in Jamaica and beyond,” noted Theresa Rodriguez Moodie, chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust, a local environmental non-governmental organisation that has been at the forefront of the movement.

The film, which will also be screened across Cockpit Country communities and made available online, is also intended to be a learning resource.

At the same time, Figueroa said there is still work to do to save the Cockpit Country.

“While important protections for Cockpit Country have been secured on paper, significant work remains. The protected area still has no management plan or management structure, and concerns remain about the potential expansion of Special Mining Lease 173,” she said.

“Ensuring that Cockpit Country is effectively protected in practice, not just in policy, will remain a key priority, alongside strengthening public participation and promoting transparent environmental decision-making. In addition, the care and compensation for communities who are suffering from mining, who have already been mined out and who are threatened with mining, is a necessary priority of the Movement,” added Figueroa,

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