Two short documentaries highlight eco-educational projects related to the waters of La Araucanía
In 2025, two teams from our foundation’s Docente Activo program developed educational projects in regions of La Araucanía that combined science, art, and nature conservation. Both initiatives were documented in short documentaries produced by Unmapped Films: *Social and Cultural Memory of the Trancura River* and *Regeneration of Lawen: Lessons Learned in the Filuwalfe Wetland as a Living Classroom*. Both were premiered directly in the regions where they took place, with the educational communities as the first audience: the first at the Kom Pu Lof Ñi Kimeltuwe School in Teodoro Schmidt, and the second at the Monseñor Francisco Valdés Subercaseaux Educational Complex in Curarrehue.
The 2025 edition of the Docente Activo program focused on the theme “Interdependence” and brought together pairs from the Araucanía region who designed and implemented projects within their own territories and educational communities.
Lawen in the Filuwalfe Wetland
Located near the Toltén River and Lake Budi in the municipality of Teodoro Schmidt, the Filuwalfe Wetland is a site of cultural and ecological significance for the local communities. It is also a menoko, a sacred wetland in Mapuche culture, where various medicinal herbs grow—herbs that had gradually disappeared from the landscape over time.
The team consisting of Silvia Calfuqueo Lefio, an intercultural and English educator at the Kom Pu Lof Ñi Kimeltuwe School, and Ruth Alonso Pichún, a teacher of natural sciences, art, and music at the Estación Toltén Public School, worked with students from both schools to reconnect children, parents, and teachers with this territory. The project included educational field trips to the wetland, nature mapping, and a day dedicated to restoring lawen (native medicinal plants) in which the educational community played a leading role. The initiative also received support from the organization Budi Anumka, which carries out socio-ecological restoration work along the coast of La Araucanía.
The micro-documentary has a bilingual title that reflects the project’s intercultural dimension: Regeneration of Lawen: Learning in the Filuwalfe Wetland as a Living Classroom / Wvño mogeltuafiyiñ Ka kiñiwtukuafiyiñ taiñ pixantu Filuwalfe, kimkonaal fij antv. It premiered on March 12 at a screening that brought together the communities of both schools.
The film was produced by Unmapped Films. The screenplay and direction were handled by Violeta Bustos, Fiorella Angelini, and Manuel Calcagni—a former participant in Docente Activo and the coordinator of the CTCI program at Par Explora La Araucanía. The opening music and adaptations were created by Bastián Pérez, a designer at our foundation.
The Voices of the Trancura
In Curarrehue, in the heart of the Araucanía Region, the Trancura River is one of the main tributaries of Lake Villarrica. It is also a place steeped in socio-natural memories that, for many students at the Monseñor Francisco Valdés Subercaseaux Educational Complex, had remained unknown or largely unexplored.
The duo formed by Pabla Verdugo, a natural sciences teacher at the school, and Paulina Castillo, a psychologist with a Ph.D. in Sociology of Education and current advisor to Par Explora Araucanía, designed a project to approach this history from multiple angles. The project involved students from 2nd grade through 10th grade in three types of activities: mapping the natural and social history of the watershed, conducting intergenerational interviews with older community members, and performing chemical analyses of the Trancura River’s waters. The intersection of oral history, science, and territorial documentation was the core of the project.
The micro-documentary captures this process: the trips to the river, the conversations between students and their families, and the water analyses. It was released on April 22 at the school itself, bringing together students, parents, teachers, and the team from Fundación Mar Adentro. The closing of the event was led by Lamngen María Coñoequir, who prepared traditional Mapuche foods for the occasion.
The audiovisual footage was produced by Unmapped Films. The script, support, and filming were handled by Fiorella Angelini, Violeta Bustos, Manuel Calcagni, and Amparo Irarrázaval.
WATCH MICRODOCUMENTARY: Social and Cultural Memory of the Trancura River
About Docente Activo
Docente Activo is a training and support program for pairs of educators that seeks to create co-learning experiences in nature through the intersection of art, science, and eco-pedagogies for the care of life