Quannah Chasinghorse, RZA & Fernando Meirelles Team Up For Eco Doc ‘Beautiful Resistance' From UK Indies Make Waves & Pollen
EXCLUSIVE: Indigenous model and actress Quannah Chasinghorse is set to lead documentary Beautiful Resistance (working title), about Indigenous justice and the climate crisis.
Chasinghorse, the 22-year-old Alaskan native land defender will be the film's protagonist and executive producer alongside Oscar-nominated City Of God, The Constant Gardner and The Two Popes filmmaker Fernando Meirelles and Grammy-winning Wu-Tang Clan member RZA who is also producing the film's score.
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The film, which is aiming for a late 2025 production start, is co-produced by UK duo Sarah Macdonald of Make Waves and Alexander Asen of Pollen, whose previous collaborations include environmental docs The Great Green Wall — which debuted at Venice — and Blue Carbon, which sold to CNN, Canal+ and others.
Beautiful Resistance will follow Quannah as she straddles two different worlds: the glamour of high fashion and the urgent fight to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the world's last true wildernesses, from oil drilling and climate destruction. Set against the backdrop of Trump's 'Drill, Baby, Drill' pledge, the project begins as a battle to save her sacred lands but spirals into a global reckoning, spanning Alaska's melting tundra to typhoon-ravaged villages in the Philippines, Louisiana's sacrifice zones, and courtroom battles in New Zealand.
Quannah, who previously co-narrated Bad River alongside Edward Norton and featured in hit series Reservation Dogs, is joined on the project her mother, Jody Potts-Joseph, a Han Gwich'in leader and advocate who serves as an executive producer on the film. Executive producers also include serial entrepreneur and Trace Magazine founder Claude Grunitzky, and Philippe de Bourbon.
RZA said: 'Hip-hop and activism have always been linked. Whether it's fighting injustice in the streets or fighting for the future of our planet, real culture speaks truth to power. Beautiful Resistance isn't just telling a story—it's standing on the frontline of history.'
Quannah Chasinghorse added: 'The most beautiful thing about being raised in the movement, is seeing love be embodied in the most powerful way. Our resistance is fueled by our resilience and ancestral strength, keeping us rooted in culture, and remaining focused in what the mission is. Indigenous peoples worldwide have proven to be stewards of the land for millennia, being the least to contribute to the climate crisis and being the most impacted. Telling these stories, uplifting and including the voices with the lived experiences is crucial to creating solutions. Beautiful Resistance is going to be a beautiful and inspiring journey into the fight for justice.'
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