This review was submitted to Channel 4’s 2018 production work placement scheme as part of the application stage, to which I was then invited to an assessment day.

The Channel 4 series Our Wildest Dreams sets to explore how Brits live amongst and adapt to new cultures. In the particular episode, British Mari, 52, moves to the Ecuadorian rainforest with Ecuadorian husband Kurkindi and their daughter Samai. Directed and produced by Sean McDonnell, this episode follows the family over the course of eight months, from January to September in 2017 as they transition from British life into that of the Ecuador rainforest.

It forwards several weeks at a time which is favourable for the 47 minute episode, but is not at all detrimental as we are still able to see and understand the struggles faced daily by Mari. From finding food, to cooking it, to dealing with the extremely humid climate and solitude as no communities live within close approximation, the viewer is also made to feel they too are on the journey with her. Mari’s consistent commentary and explanations work in favour of this time leaping and help the audience to faster and better understand Mari’s and Samai’s adaption process.

Personally, this particular episode was very enjoyable as I have an immense interest in tribal and native, or should it be said simpler, lifestyles. I myself come from rural North India, upon farmlands neighbouring the Indian Himalayas, and though Mari and family were situated on the other side of the world in Ecuador, it resonated very much with myself. Similar to Samai, I went to my mother-country for the first time aged six and spent several weeks there, learning a lot more about where I come from and what living there entails, to which I was also able to compare to England. To see this documented for the English public’s viewing enabling them to see what it is like to come from two completely different countries is triumphant as it showcases how, despite innumerable differences, we are in fact more similar than we think. For example, Mari befriended local woman Sandra and the children of the tribe and spent much time with them as Mari was taught the rainforest ways, and this was truly heart-warming to watch and revealed just how similar humans are despite cultural, social, and linguistic differences, and our want and need for friendship, company, affection, and trust.

The documentary was done to a very well standard in that it balanced both Ecuadorian and English lifestyles. It provided some background to Mari’s English life and then spent the majority in the rainforest; their new home. Oftentimes, documentaries of such manner can be somewhat exasperating as it devalues the native and primitive ways of living and uplifts that of the developed West. As someone who is both Western and Eastern, I am more inclined to notice how Western-produced tribal documentaries, whereby the natives and their hunting, eating of insects, lack of sewage systems, and so on, carry the underlying message of ‘West as best’. However, Our Wildest Dreams – Ecuador, did not undermine rainforest living, and in fact positioned in such a way as to galvanise the simple and natural communal-based living; something sadly being lost in the West. The underlying message of this episode, in fact, was that of love and being able to do and survive anything for its sake, as put by Kurkindi: “when you love someone and some place… everything is possible”.

One shining factor of this episode was the cinematography. With its splendid shots of the sunrises and sunsets casting natural orange beams across the beautiful rainforest, to even the unexpected and turbulent monsoon hitting and jumping from the long leaves of giant trees, the cinematography was able to capture the rainforest in all its different forms and colours. This was edited alongside stylish shots of Mari’s hometown of Greenwich, such as St Alfege Church and the bustling high street and famous market, providing an interesting comparison between the secluded and colourful rainforest appreciated by just a few dozen, and the cosmopolitan and busy London town, home to thousands. All in all, the cinematography and editing worked marvellously well in highlighting the juxtaposing different ways of life and visually bringing it to the viewer’s attention whilst still honouring both.

However, there was one factor that could have been investigated to further enhance the episode, as well as provide more social and cultural foundation to Ecuadorian living for the better understanding of the British audience. By interviewing the locals and encouraging them to share their opinion on Mari’s transitioning into rainforest life and on Western living, the audience would have been able to experience the episode from another perspective despite that of just Mari and Samai. Kurkini also shared his opinions and points of view, however he was both accustomed to Ecuadorian and English living. Therefore, to have had included a few purely Ecuadorian and tribal opinions would have added more flavour to this episode and helped the predominantly English audience to learn even more about the unfamiliar yet equally beautiful land of the Ecuador rainforest.