Behind a new documentary, The Man Who Saves the World?, is a man who just might save the world. Or, more specifically, be the spark that saves the Amazon and thereby prevents the destruction of a region on which the world depends.
Patrick McCollum, 75, has led a life so weird and wonderful his biography reads like a fabrication. The Moraga resident has served as a chaplain to serial killers, been a jewelry maker for the late Queen Elizabeth and been hit by a drunk driver, pronounced dead and passed through what he says was “a tunnel of light,” in which the voice of God declared serving peace the only pathway for coming back to life.
McCollum is a Kung Fu master, an international peace activist, a minor king in Ghana, a self-taught violin maker and player, and a close friend of the late Jane Goodall. During a journey to meet with South American Indigenous Elders, the Kogi Tribe in Colombia and the Jaguar People identified McCollum as the prophet they and other communities believe is destined to save the Amazon.
Filmmaker Gabe Polsky’s documentary features thought leaders like Goodall and Indigenous elders, chiefs, leaders and kings. Polsky narrates the film, his questions and tone initially displaying acute skepticism but eventually yielding to stunned belief. After investigating McCollum’s claims and traveling with him for months, he told McCollum the journey was profound.
“As a documentary filmmaker, it’s not a fantasy film,” McCollum said. “It’s about truth, accuracy. He stayed independent and questioned everything. In the end, he said his worldview in terms of spirituality and possibility was transformed, in a good way.”
McCollum said the film’s half-dozen screenings have met with standing ovations and people asking how they can play a role in his work. This has reinforced his primary intentions. “I couldn’t have cared less about being in a movie or getting fame,” McCollum said. “I was simply doing what I thought was right and needed to be done to help humanity.”
Goodall was a major supportive peer for McCollum during their weekly Zoom meetings, phone calls and emails. “I’d tell her, ‘I’m in my 70s and discouraged,’ and she’d say she was 85 and still going to 30 countries and that I was just a kid. If I was stuck, she offered solutions and privileged me to do the same for her,” McCollum said. Her loss devastated him.
McCollum was given some of Goodall’s ashes. He stores them in the World Peace Violin he made and upon which he taught himself to play. He takes the violin on his travels and says a portion of her ashes are also in his home’s altar. “She told me before she died to do that so she will always be close,” he said.
McCollum said the recent COP30 summit in Brazil broke through barriers. “Prior to that, Indigenous voices weren’t allowed a say in what’s going to happen with the Amazon,” he said. “Through the sheer volume of their voices, they were heard and got results. The governments of Brazil and other countries agreed to enact new laws to protect the Amazon.”
The next steps, he said, are to believe in big dreams and step forward. Regardless of age or ability, anyone can have a profound impact. “This prophecy given to me says I’m just tipping the domino,” McCollum said. “Indigenous people and the People of the Concrete, that’s you and I, will all be touched by the prophecy, unite and together shift the future of our planet in a positive way. Everyone touched is now part of the prophecy.”
McCollum says that with over 300 tribes forming the Indigenous Confederation of the Americas, a newly created constitution will be presented to the United Nations. He says that in the meantime and after he dies, the prophecy will unfold and be led by Indigenous and non-Indigenous people and youth leaders worldwide.
“I’m just a guy from Moraga,” McCollum said. “As an ordinary person, I like that within me is something sacred that can be ignited. Every single person has that. Jane said this movie gives hope that good things are happening—I feel so blessed by her words.”
‘The Man Who Saves the World?’ screens locally at: 7pm Tue, Jan. 27, 2026, The Great Star Theater, 636 Jackson St., San Francisco; movie and Q&A with Patrick McCollum and Gabe Polsky at 7pm Wed, Jan. 28, 2026, Grand Lake Theatre, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland.
