Embrace of the Serpent

The tension between supersiticion and science, colonizer and the colonized, barbary and "civilization" are subtly present overtones in this slow-paced, engrossing and deeply engaging tale of two anthropologists on a journey in the Colombian amazon.

The film is loosely based on the diaries of Theodor Koch-Grünberg and Richard Evan Schultes who both travelled to the Amazon during the first half of the 20th century. Theo in 1909 and Richard in 1940. The film's narrative jumps between the two journeys, which follow the same path, and are lead by the same guide; shaman Karamakate - the last survivor of his tribe. They are both claiming to seek the holy plant yakruna, which is supposed to have divine healing powers. The voyages of the two anthropologists are not high-tempo, action packed chases, but rather filled with superstition, barbarism, poetry and magic.

Unlike many tales of western interference with indigenous people, the focus here is not merely on how the westerners destroyed the people and culture of the indigenous, but also on how the western travellers themselves were forced to question their principles and beliefs. They had to bow for, and almost got convinced by, the beliefs of the tribes they were studying.

And while Grünberg is to have written that the beauty and splendor of the Amazon is impossible to describe in words, Ciro Guerra and his team impressively conveys the fascinating beauty of the landscape with captivating black-and-white panorama shots of the Amazonian rain forest.

The Colombian director Ciro Guerra (b. 1981) is one of the most talented directors of South America. We screen all his films at this year's festival. La sombra del caminante (2004), The Wind Journeys (2009) and Embrace of the Serpent (2015), which won an award during this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Artist talk: Ciro Guerra

Film: Embrace of the Serpent
Time: October 14, 20:00 o'clock.
Location: Filmens hus
In connection with the screening there will be a conversation between the director Ciro Guerra og Karstein Meinich of Montages, as well as an appeal from Regnskogfondet and TV-aksjonen.

Film: The Wanderer's Shadow
Time: October 15, 18 o'clock.
Location: Filmens hus
In connection with the screening there will be an introduction from the director Ciro Guerra.

Film: Embrace of the Serpent
Time: October 16, 18:30 o'clock.
Location: Victoria 1
In connection with the screening there will be an introduction from Regnskogfondet. Q&A with director Ciro Guerra after the film.

Film: The Wanderer's Shadow
Time: October 16, 20:45 o'clock.
Location: Filmens hus
In connection with the screening there will be a Q&A with the director Ciro Guerra after the film.