We’re excited to share that Mentawai: Soul of the Forest – an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Joo Peter – is now available to stream. Joo is a long-term supporter of Suku Mentawai (SM) / IEF and worked closely with the SM team to produce this beautiful film.

Joo would now like to offer you, our supporter base, a special invitation to stream the film with 100% of proceeds to go directly towards Suku Mentawai (YPBM), our trusted local partner working to keep Mentawai culture strong.

This is a gentle, beautifully made portrait of life in the Mentawai Islands. The film spends time with families, elders, and young people as they learn, work, and celebrate together, showing how culture lives through daily practice, not just special occasions. You’ll see the connection between people and forest through simple living practice: making, teaching, gathering, caring.

100% of your rental fee will support the Suku Mentawai, helping empower:

• Language & knowledge, taught by Mentawai educators – Regular classes help children and youth learn their mother tongue, stories, and everyday skills. By watching this film, you help to cover simple but vital program costs: learning materials, honouring elder educators, and weekly student gatherings.
• Culture kept alive through practice – Hands-on workshops in music, craft, and ceremony keep traditions alive. Funding provides tools, safe spaces to gather, and student mentor’s time to enable learning.
• Forest learning that builds guardianship – Elders and knowledge holders teaching plant identification, sustainable harvesting and use, and methods to care for rivers and the natural environment to the next generation. Your support makes these outings accessible and properly equipped for the next generation.
• Livelihoods that align with culture — Cultural education and training equips families with more diverse and localised skills also useful in earning income without harming the forest, so people can stay on their land and keep traditions strong.
• Led by the community, for the community — Suku Mentawai designs and runs these programs locally. Your film rental keeps coordination steady, accountable, and Mentawai-owned—so impact stays where it belongs.

A partnership built on trust:

Filmmaker Joo Peter has walked alongside Suku Mentawai and IEF for years, always offering his support in elevating and strengthening Mentawai voices. His generosity in offering support to Suku Mentawai via this special invitation streaming fundraiser means your watch goes straight to supporting the community and culture you’re learning about through the film. It is a very simple way to stand with Mentawai people and the rainforest home that sustains them.

Stream on Vimeo On Demand:

For media and partners, explore the film’s press materials (synopsis, stills, laurels) here:

https://travel.joopeter.de/Portfolio-film

Share the story

Love the film? Tell a friend, plan a small viewing with your community, or post a line about what moved you. A quick share helps more people discover the film and multiplies the support reaching Suku Mentawai’s cultural-based education programs.

Our thanks to Joo Peter for this generous collaboration, and to every viewer who presses play – masura’ bagatta, thank you. Your time and interest travels further than you think in keeping Mentawai culture strong, living, and heard.

IEF