Trailer

https://youtu.be/RbVv8SInIIs?si=LIZA4CgfZIhJhzrS

The extraordinary story of Randy Borman, 
born in the Amazon and raised among the Cofán people

Synopsis

GRINGO COFÁN is an intimate portrait of Randy Borman’s extraordinary life. Born in 1955 in the Ecuadorian Amazon and raised among the Cofán people, Randy was the son of American missionaries who grew up fully immersed in Cofán culture—adopting their language, worldview, and deep connection to nature as part of his own identity. Welcomed by the Cofán as one of their own, his upbringing shaped a multicultural perspective that would define the course of his life.

Through this character-driven documentary, the audience comes to understand why Randy chose to remain in the Amazon rather than leave for the United States to live a \’normal\’ life. He married a Cofán woman and used his unique multicultural identity to defend what was most sacred to his people: the rainforest. For Randy, the Cofán ancestral land was not just a place to live—it was his home, his community, and his cause.

Randy’s story is inseparable from the story of the Cofán. The film offers a window into their life before the arrival of oil companies, and the devastating consequences of exploitation—pollution, loss of ancestral land, colonization, and the forced transformation of a traditional way of life. The viewer is taken to Zábalo, a Cofán community established as a refuge from these disruptions, where they continue to preserve their worldview and way of life in harmony with nature. The documentary also highlights the broader struggles Indigenous communities face in defending their territory and the critical need for organization, education, and resistance.

The strength of the film lies in its ability to draw the audience in through the gradual discovery of the unexpected layers that make Randy so compelling. Rather than adhering to a traditional narrative arc, the documentary unfolds in chapters—each revealing a new facet of his life and deepening the viewer’s understanding of this fascinating individual. As the story progresses, viewers become increasingly captivated by the richness of his character and his extraordinary journey.

GRINGO COFÁN is also the result of the work of Ecuadorian filmmaker Verónica Moscoso, who, while living in California, returned to her home country to recover Randy’s oral history and document the current struggle of the Cofán people. The film stands as an act of memory, resistance, and tribute to those who dedicate their lives to protecting the rainforest and its cultures.

Stills

About the Filmmaker

Verónica Moscoso is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist, and author from Quito, Ecuador. Verónica’s storytelling spans formats and languages. She has produced radio, video, print, and multimedia pieces in both English and Spanish, and is the author of a popular collection of Spanish novellas for language learners—ranging from fiction to real-life stories.

Her acclaimed documentary, A Wild Idea, screened at over 30 international film festivals and won nine awards. Verónica also holds a master’s degree in documentary production from the renowned UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Her travels across the Middle East and Southeast Asia have enriched her vision and added a global dimension to her storytelling. Now based in California, Verónica continues to create stories that bridge cultures and perspectives, inviting audiences to meet unforgettable characters, explore social issues from fresh angles, dive into iconic legends, and discover the deep connections between humans and the natural world.

Her latest documentary, Gringo Cofán (2025), continues her commitment to storytelling rooted in cultural complexity and environmental urgency.

Behind the Scenes

Director’s Statement

By 2010 and 2011, I had already made two short documentaries in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Knowing about my interest in the region, a friend showed me an article featuring Randy Borman, a middle-aged white man with blue eyes who was the leader of a Cofán community. The first thing that came to mind when I saw his photo was, “What is he doing there?” As I read the article, I came to understand that, despite his “gringo” appearance, Randy was also Cofán.

I’ve always been fascinated by unique and complex characters, so I began researching him and confirmed that the Cofán people truly considered him one of their own. I was about to graduate with a master’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley in 2011 when I first spoke to Randy. He gave me his consent to make a documentary about his life. We had long-distance conversations, I read a book about him, and I researched as much as I could.

But it wasn’t until 2018, after a successful crowdfunding campaign, that I secured funding to travel to Ecuador, my home country, hire professional videographers, and begin filming in both the Amazon and Quito. There, I met Randy’s family and got a closer look at his life. Randy was married to Amelia, a Cofán woman, and they had four children together. He was already a grandfather when I met him in person. He had founded an organization that supports the Cofán people in many ways. Among his many accomplishments was helping to secure government recognition of thousands of hectares of ancestral Cofán territory.

You can’t tell Randy’s story without addressing the struggles the Cofán have faced: oil companies, colonization, pollution, and the loss of their land. That is the context of this story.

As an independent filmmaker, finding funding to finish the project was challenging. I worked on editing the film intermittently and, at times, set it aside. But in 2024, I was determined to complete it. In 2025, as I was in the final stages of editing the documentary, I was told that Randy had been hospitalized. He had cancer. Randy passed away in February, just two months before I finished editing Gringo Cofán, the documentary that tells his life story. Today, Gringo Cofán also stands as a tribute to Randy’s tireless work to protect the rainforest, what I believe to be his greatest legacy.

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