Director’s Q&A

I was involved in the early stages of a community program in our local channel Telepacifico Cali, Colombia called Rostros y Rastros that tried to tell stories about our region from our own point of view. We produced hundreds of programs from this series. Afterwards I produced and directed various documentaries one of which was the biography of the great Colombian thinker Estanislao Zuleta.

I am a documentarian by trade and conviction.

I was inspired, or more accurately, compelled, obligated, obsessed  to make this documentary after reading the book “One River” by Wade Davis. This book crystallized a passion and curiosity I have always had for the secret knowledge of our indigenous cultures, of my own ancestors — the magic of their world view, the awesome knowledge they have accumulated throughout the centuries about toxic and psychotropic plants. I wanted to follow the steps of amazing explorer as Schultes was, I wanted to follow the steps of poets like Burroughs. I wanted to see with my own eyes, with South American eyes, this gorgeous jungle and tell its story and secrets to the world.

Making a documentary at this scale without a TV Channel or Studio assignment today is nearly impossible. Now, making a documentary in one of the most dangerous regions in the world - patching in small grants and putting in all our time and personal funds - was another story!

I think the only thing that allowed my team to overcome objection after objection, economical - political - security-wise was our absolute conviction that we had to share this magic with the world. That only through seeing it, through experiencing what it means to travel through these unknown lands, to experience being part of their day to day lives and ceremonies, we as a world can start to understand the importance of preserving the magic, the wealth of knowledge, the respect and knowledge about nature of these amazing cultures.

Time after time, people told us we were crazy, didn’t return our calls, but we persevered because we know the Gods were with us.

A huge deal. When I first started making the connections to travel to the Apaporis I, myself, saw the region, given its many political conflicts, as perhaps a “green hell”. I.e. the vision we have of a land and customs that are being ravaged by Occidental culture. When I was there I did observe the threats and damage we have done to this area. They are palpable, real, immediate. But what you see, what you feel, what you know instinctively in the jungle — it’s that you are not in a green hell… you are in a green heaven. A green heaven that operates parallel but in conjunction to our every day world. A world where every breath of a plant, every whisper of a bird, every enchantment of a shaman gives humanity life, purpose, history. So, I myself, took the journey this documentary narrates. I myself was changed in making this film. By experiencing the great Apaporis, the great Amazon river that unites us all - and by crafting this story - using my limited resources to the best effect I could - I was transformed.

It’s amazing, you know. You see this documentary with a Colombian audience and it literally brings tears to many of our eyes. This is our land. This is our history. This is a precious resource we have ignored, fought against for so long. When I have test screened this in Colombia people come up to me and you can see by their reaction - that they feel that a story has been told about their country which is not about drugs, politics, bombs. That they have truly begun to appreciate our land differently.

Internationally, we’ve had a very warm reception. We screened a rough cut, work in progress at the DC Environmental Film Festival - the screening was sold out, there were people sitting on the stairs. This version had many problems that we eventually fixed. But just the fact that people, particularly young, passionate people, would take time from their busy schedules and fill our theater showed me that I was not alone in my passion for this. That the preservation of the magic of the Amazon - its celebration - was a strong sentiment today.

Documentary filmmmakers stand in the shoulder of giants. I have researched, taught, been inspired by so many great minds in the genre.

Going back to the beginning of the groundbreaking Nanook of the North… which in many ways is a straight predecesessor - like Herzog’s recent Encounters at the End of the World - of this documentary to recent films like Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, the work of Ken Burns with the National Parks and of course the world of the great Latin American documentary filmmakers who are my brothers in this adventure.