ROLF WINTERS, Filmmaker

Rolf is an internationally operating consultant, coach and speaker in the field of leadership. After a corporate career, at the age of 30, his incessant drive to understand and make better use of human potential led him to found his own leadership consulting firm. For ten years he travelled Europe as boardroom consultant and coach, working for some of the largest corporations in the world. Through his in-depth experiences with leaders and decision making at the top of the corporate pyramid, Rolf gained an insight into the stranglehold our established structures have on organizations and their leaders, the damaging effects of their short-term focus and the lack of a holistic vision. Disappointed by the lack of true leadership he witnessed in the world, he started searching for a different perspective and a key to renewal. When he was exposed to the leadership principles and the way-of-life of the Anishnabe (first Native Americans), he felt he had found that key. The Native American vision on life and their way-of-being resonated so strongly with him that the decision he and Renata made to sell up and leave their cosmopolitan life behind was taken almost overnight. They retreated for four years with their three young children into the woods of Upper Michigan in order to learn and gain a deeper understanding of the wisdom and heritage of the Native Americans. After three years the vision came to record the wisdom they encountered. They bought a camera and started filming in their local vicinity, which would ultimately evolve into Down to Earth. Whilst completing the film and Rolf continued his work with established and emerging young leaders around the world, now integrating the wisdom and insights he gained from the Keepers of the Earth. Rolf is now finalising his book on wisdom-based leadership with which he hopes to contribute to the needed leadership reset. For more info on Rolf, see www.wiseleaders.com

RENATA HEINEN, Filmmaker

Renata is a visual artist, writer/creator, and filmmaker. Renata was born and raised in the Netherlands but has lived most of her professional life in the UK and the USA. For Renata her encounter with the Native Americans and their connected way-of-life felt like coming home on more than one level. Besides being drawn to learn from the Native American ways, Renata was very passionate to start a new life from scratch in the woods of Upper Michigan: Leading a simple life in connection with nature, growing her own food and medicine, raising animals and for her children to grow up with more freedom, surrounded by nature.  When the vision came to document the Keepers of the Earth around the world, she was determined to travel as a family without a crew. Even though balancing the various roles was challenging at times, her vision to do everything as a family proved to be the key to get access to remote tribal communities that aren’t accessible for film crews. Her experience as a storyteller in image and word was crucial in the film making process, where hundreds of hours of footage had to be distilled into a 90-minute heart-felt experience for the audience. Having worked for a decade to bring the voices of the Earth Keepers to the world, Renata felt drawn to dig deeper into her own source, finding her own voice.  She is currently working on developing a fictional TV-series about love and addiction. For more info on Renata, see Instagram: Renata Heinen.

THE CHILDREN

DOWN to EARTH was the journey of a family. And the journey or the film wouldn't have turned out the way they have without the children. They were the starting point of the journey as their arrival in the world was the catalyst that made their parents decide to break away and seek a different way of life, a different way for them to grow up. In hindsight they also appeared to be the 'door openers' for the family to be welcomed by remote and protected indigenous communities. Doors that would have remained closed for just any film crew opened up because they came first and foremost as a family, to learn and listen. Upon arrival the children would already be off playing with the local children whilst the parents were still making contact through an interpreter. But not just that, they ultimately became part of the film making team as it was the footage on their cameras that saved the day in the re-edit of the film! When they went on their journey Renata and Rolf had no intention for the family to appear in the film. They were determined to make a film purely documenting the Earth Keepers through the lens of their camera, with the family staying behind the camera at all times. However, when film executives and test audiences saw the completed film, undivided they pressed them to incorporate the story of the family's journey in the film. They had no filmed material and it was the footage they discovered on the cameras of the children that enabled them to weave the story of the family into the final version of the film.