by Tara Leuvina Smith (filmmaker)
One day, I was driving along the East Coast of Demerara with executive producer, Tivia Collins, reflecting on the times when the trenches alongside the roadways were filled with Guyana’s national flower. I spoke about the flower’s cultural ties and environmental significance, and at the end of my rant, I said it would be good if someone made a film about all this removal. Tivia responded, “You should make the film.”
The actual pace of Paimîye started slowly. We did not have funding.
Almost a year had passed when Tivia reached out with the good news that she had received a grant from the Environmental and Epistemic Justice Initiative at Wake Forest University, and offered to support the film as Executive Producer. I knew it was time to pick up the pace.
Our first goal was to find the national flower. After a series of searches, we found it at three locations in Region Four: in a small section at the front of the Botanical Gardens; at the University of Guyana’s pond; and in the trench on the La Bonne Intention (LBI) main road, heading into the sugar factory. We then connected with Melanie McTurk, Managing Director of Karanambu Lodge, where several ponds with the national flower can be found.
Karanambu is located in Region Nine and, according to Melanie McTurk, “is found at the very heart of the Rupununi wetlands.” The first day we arrived, we headed to see the national flower in a small boat operated by Captain Kenneth Mandook and his co-captain. We saw birds, monkeys, and giants of the Amazon, including the black caiman and the giant lily pads of the national flower.
During our interview with Melanie, we learned that the updated name of the plant is The Victoria Amazonica, and about its importance to the environment, biodiversity, and culture, including how it provides habitat for fish, birds, and aquatic creatures like caiman and giant otters. Birds like the Jacana also use it as a fishing ground, and they nest and guard their young there.
Kenneth Mandook told us about the indigenous peoples’ connection to the plant and shared the Macushi name for the national flower: Paimîye. He noted that long before the Schomburgk brothers or the German botanist went on their “exploration” in Guyana, his people were aware of the plant because it provided so much for their environment. As he said:“It carry the oxygen to the bottom and that is how it keep the water clean…”
While Karanambu Lodge provided us with a vast understanding of the historical, environmental, and cultural ties of the Victoria Amazonica to Guyana, the film was not complete. We needed an academic context, and for this we turned to the University of Guyana.
In 2025, I reached out to Dr Gyanpriya Maharaj, Director, Centre for the Study of Biological Diversity at UG, who suggested a few names. We eventually interviewed Mrs. Kimberly Seymour, Plant Biologist, and Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Kimberly explained the plant’s naming history, including its transition from Victoria Regia to Victoria Amazonica.
“Wheatley, Sir H. St James’s Palace
July 29, 1837.
My dear Sir,
I this morning received the drawing of the Species of Nymphaea discovered by Mr Schomburgk, which I have lost no time in submitting to The Queen, and Her Majesty has directed me to express Her sense of Mr Schomburgk’s attention in sending it, and to convey to that Gentleman Her Majesty’s permission, that the name of “Victoria Regia” should be.”
Excerpt from original letters requesting the name and species of the plant after seeing the Victoria Regia in 1837
The structural back end of the Victoria Amazonica, University of Guyana
We then travelled to London to interview Carlos Magdalena, “The Plant Messiah,” an author and senior researcher at Kew Gardens. Carlos confirmed the plant’s colonial naming history and its journey from British Guiana seeds to European botanical classification.
One of the Kew Gardens’ glasshouses containing the Victoria Amazonica
With the historical and scientific research complete, we wanted to add an artistic dimension to the film. Indigenous artist Simon Dave completed a folklore painting about Karanambu Lodge, captured during the Indigenous Imaginations event in 2025.
The edits were completed in April 2026, and Paimîye premiered at the Theatre Guild, Guyana, in May 2026 as part of the country’s 60th Independence Anniversary celebrations.
The day before the screening, we were running a technical test at the Theatre Guild when we learned the tragic news that the water lilies at LBI had been destroyed. At 5.30 a.m. on the rainy Saturday morning of the screening, Tivia and I drove up to LBI to see the damage. The plants were completely gone. Their lifeless remnants lay in puddles of mud, semi-buried by construction work. The drains were being cleared to develop roads.
At the end of the screening, I walked away carrying the sadness of the destruction of Paimîye at LBI. Yet the audience’s responses reminded me that, just as the Victoria Amazonica blooms at night, hope can emerge from darkness. It is our collective responsibility to teach the next generation how to care for the environment in sustainable ways. It is equally important to invest in Guyana’s film and arts industries so that more Guyanese women and girls are encouraged and supported to tell stories about our culture, history, and environment.
Paimîye is currently doing a film festival run so it is not available online (as yet). However, if you are interested in screening the film for any group or organisation, please reach out via email to arrange: [email protected].
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