Over the course of 40 years, two scientists travel through the Amazon in search of a sacred plant that could heal them. In the primeval forest they encounter Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman, last survivor of his people. From this encounter, an epic story emerges about approach, betrayal and life-transcending friendship between the shaman and the researchers. Inspired by the journals of the first explorers of the Colombian Amazon, Theodor Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes.
An unexpected friendship between an Amazonian shaman and European researchers develops in the deepest recesses of the Colombian virgin forest.
"The Wind Journeys was a very personal film and it dealt with a lot of personal issues – family, culture, identity. So for the following project I wanted to take a journey to the unknown! For a Colombian there is nothing more unknown than the Amazon – it’s half the country but we don’t know much about it. I wanted to search for new ideas. In that process I discovered the journals of the first explorers in the Colombian Amazon and I thought they were fascinating, they gave me a story to work with." (Ciro Guerra)
Ciro Guerra
Born in Río de Oro (Colombia) in 1981. His first two films, La sombra del caminante and The Wind Journeys, screened at several international film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, San Sebastian, Rotterdam and Locarno, winning 40 international awards. Both films were chosen as Colombia's entry for the Academy Award and were released commercially in 20 countries. Embrace of the Serpent marks Guerra’s third film.
filmography
2004 La sombra del caminante
2009 Los viajes del viento (The Wind Journeys)
2015 El abrazo de la serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent)