Antonio Bolívar, who played the shaman Karamakate in Ciro Guerra’s Oscar nominated feature Embrace Of The Serpent, has died at the age of 72 after being hospitalized with coronavirus.
Bolívar was a member of the Huitoto indigenous people and was one of the last of his tribe. Reps for Ciro Guerra, who directed the film, confirmed Bolívar’s death to Deadline.
According to a report on The City Paper Bogota, the actor was admitted to hospital in Leticia, Colombia, last week with Covid-19 symptoms and passed away on Friday.
Bolívar was also a translator of indigenous languages, including Tikuna and Cubeo, which are spoken among the inhabitants of the Orinoco and Amazon region. On the acting side, he also appeared in Guerra’s Netflix series Green Frontier.
Embrace Of The Serpent premiered in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in 2015 and went on to be Oscar nominated in the foreign-language film category.
Bolívar was a member of the Huitoto indigenous people and was one of the last of his tribe. Reps for Ciro Guerra, who directed the film, confirmed Bolívar’s death to Deadline.
According to a report on The City Paper Bogota, the actor was admitted to hospital in Leticia, Colombia, last week with Covid-19 symptoms and passed away on Friday.
Bolívar was also a translator of indigenous languages, including Tikuna and Cubeo, which are spoken among the inhabitants of the Orinoco and Amazon region. On the acting side, he also appeared in Guerra’s Netflix series Green Frontier.
Embrace Of The Serpent premiered in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in 2015 and went on to be Oscar nominated in the foreign-language film category.
- 5/5/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
This is the Pure Movies review of Embrace of the Serpent, directed by Ciro Guerra, and starring Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar and Brionne Davis.
- 6/13/2016
- by Dave Owen
- Pure Movies
Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical exclusives for rent, priced from $3-$10, in 24- or 48-hour periods Dirty Grandpa (comedy, Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza; unrated) The Witch (period horror; Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson; rated R) Divine Access (comedy-drama; Billy Burke, Patrick Warburton; not rated) Izzie’s Way Home (animated/family; voices: Tori Spelling, Joey Fatone; not rated) Embrace of the Serpent (drama-action; Antonio Bolivar, Nicolas Cancino; not rated) Song of Lahore (documentary...
Read More...
Read More...
- 5/18/2016
- by Robert B. DeSalvo
- Movies.com
Suncoast Credit Union Gasparilla International Film Festival (Giff) has announced the official program for its 10th year anniversary in Tampa, Florida. The 10th annual festival will be held March 30-April 3 at the Tampa Theater and Ybor City’s Carmike Cinemas. With 115 films, the festival will host international and regional premieres of narrative features, documentaries and short films around the world, special tributes, master classes, panel discussions and much more.
This year’s special tribute will celebrate the many accomplishments of Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony winner Rita Moreno. Giff will honor Moreno with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Also, her film, "Remember Me" will screen at the festival.
A jury of industry professionals and acclaimed filmmakers will be presenting awards to competition films in the following categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary, Spotlight and Shorts.
Highlights include:
Opening Night Film (Narrative)
"Eye in the Sky" (UK): Academy Award winner Helen Mirren stars alongside Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman and Iain Glen in this timely thriller about a terrorist-targeting drone mission that becomes a flashpoint when a civilian girl enters the kill zone. Directed by Gavin Hood.
Closing Night Film (Narrative)
"Everybody Wants Some" (USA): A group of college baseball players navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. Starring Zoey Deutch, Tyler Hoechlin, Ryan Guzman, Blake Jenner. Directed by Richard Linklater
Narrative Features:
"Precious Cargo" (World Premiere) : After a botched heist, Eddie, a murderous crime boss, hunts down the seductive thief Karen who failed him. In order to win back Eddie’s trust, Karen recruits her ex-lover and premier thief Jack. Starring Bruce Willis, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Claire Forlani. Directed by Max Adams. "Embrace Of The Serpent" (Colombia. Florida Premiere): Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. The story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant. Starring: Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar. Directed by Ciro Guerra "Ma Ma" (Spain. Florida Premiere): A woman recently diagnosed with cancer forms an unexpected bond with a soccer scout (Luis Tosar) whose wife has been gravely injured in a car accident. Starring: Academy Award winner Penélope Cruz. Directed by Julio Medem "Love and Friendship" (France/Netherlands. Florida Premiere): In the 18th century, the seductive and manipulative Lady Susan uses devious tactics to win the heart of the eligible Reginald De Courcy. Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny. Directed by Whit Stillman. "The Daughter" (Australia. Florida Premiere): A young man returns to his dying hometown and discovers a dark family secret that could tear apart the lives of those he left behind, in this contemporary adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck. Starring: Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider, Miranda Otto, Anna Torv, with Odessa Young and Sam Neill. Directed by Simon Stone. "The Debt" (USA. Florida Premiere): A hedge-fund honcho puts through the deal of a lifetime: the redemption of a billion-dollar debt owed by the Peruvian government to its citizens. The quick buck soon turns into a nightmare. Starring: Stephen Dorff, Alberto Ammann, Carlos Bardem, and David Strathairn. Directed by Barney Elliott"The Adderall Diaries" (USA. Florida Premiere): Based on the bestselling memoir by Stephen Elliott, The Adderall Diaries is the story of an author paralyzed by writer's block and an escalating drug dependency who is sucked down the rabbit hole of a high-profile murder case. Starring:James Franco, Ed Harris and Amber Heard. Written and directed by Pamela Romanowsky"One More Time" (USA. Florida Premiere): After one too many big city problems, Jude heads to the Hamptons home of her father, an over-the-hill crooner desperately charting his musical comeback. Starring: Amber Heard, Kelli Garner and Christopher Walken. Directed by Robert Edwards. "Little Men" (USA. Florida Premiere): Jake is a quiet, sensitive middle schooler when he meets the affably brash Tony at his grandfather's funeral. The budding friendship is put at risk, however, when a rent dispute between Jake's father, Brian and Tony's mother, Leonor, threatens to become contentious. Starring: Greg Kinnear, Theo Taplitz, Michael Barbieri and Alfred Molina. Directed by Ira Sachs "A Beautiful Now" (USA. Florida Premiere): As a beautiful dancer balances between reality and fantasy, she asks her friends to help her figure out the passions and relationships that have shaped her identity. Starring: Abigail Spencer, Cheyenne Jackson, Collette Wolfe. Directed by: Daniela Amavia "Puerto Ricans in Paris" (USA. Florida Premiere): Two Puerto Rican NYPD detectives head to Paris to track down a stolen handbag. Starring: Luiz Guzman, Rosie Perez, Rosario Dawson. Directed by Ian Edelman "The Black Coat’s Daughter" (USA. Florida Premiere): Beautiful and haunted Joan makes a pilgrimage across a frozen landscape toward a prestigious all girls prep school where Rose and Kat find themselves stranded after their parents mysteriously fail to retrieve them for winter break. Starring: Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, James Remar, Lauren Holly. Directed by Osgood Perkins "The Truth About Lies" (USA. Florida Premiere): A desperate, unemployed man (Fran Kranz) who lives with his mother weaves an ever-growing web of lies to impress a beautiful woman. Starring: Fran Kranz, Odette Annable. Directed by Phil Allocco. Documentaries
"Hair I Go Again" (World Premiere): Facing a mid-life crossroads, two longtime friends risk everything as they set out to fulfill their dreams of achieving rock & roll stardom. Directed by: Steve McClure. "Hano! A Century in the Bleachers" (Florida Premiere): Meet Arnold Hano, 93, legendary sportswriter and social activist. Baseball fan, war veteran and storyteller emeritus: few have lived and chronicled the American experience as extensively. Directed by: Jon Leonoudakis. "Smart" (Florida Premiere): Groundbreaking feature-length documentary about a group of highly trained, adrenaline-fueled professionals who risk life and limb to rescue animals. They're Los Angeles' Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team! Directed by Justin Zimmerman "No Greater Love" (Florida Premiere): U.S. Army Chaplain Justin Roberts goes on missions with the legendary No Slack battalion in Afghanistan in 2010/2011 armed with only a camera. Directed by Justin Roberts.
Cuban Sidebar: Films focusing on Cuba
"Craving Cuba" (World Premiere): A Cuban-American woman seeks to understand her true identity. Directed by: Zuzy Martin Lynch "The Forbidden Shore" (World Premiere)- The amazing diversity of contemporary Cuban music is gorgeously explored in Ron Chapman’s third documentary feature. Chapman captures the full gamut of what’s happening now in Cuba, both the most exciting artists and the distinct musical scenes they move In. Directed by Ron Chapman. "Havana Motor Club" (Florida Premiere): Reforms have offered opportunity in Cuba but the children of the Revolution are unsure of the best route forward. For a half-dozen drag racers, this means last-minute changes to their beloved American muscle cars, as they prepare for the first sanctioned race in Cuba since 1960. Directed by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt
Florida Focus : World premiere of independent films made in Florida
"Waiting on Mary" : A struggling actor, traumatized by a brutal divorce, assumes the personality of a colonial character he played at a failed amusement park as a way of retreating from his pain. Directed by: Corey Horton "Bear With Us" : A modern farce about a guy who attempts to propose to his girlfriend in the most romantic way possible, but his plan falls apart when a ravenous bear stumbles on their charming cabin in the woods. Directed by: William Stribling. "Dooder And the Lighthouse" : Dooder Parker is eighty-six and full of life. When the historic lighthouse in his hometown becomes doomed to fall into the Gulf, his recounting of local history evolves into a reflection on his love for his wife. Stories intertwine to paint a portrait of a vanishing way of life. Directed by: Clayton Long & Lisa Long In addition to feature length films, Giff will present over 70 short films. Short film blocks include:
“Lol”: Comedic short films · “Films on a Mission”: Short films focusing on a specific cause
· “Thrill Ride”: Thriller, action, and horror short films.
· “Love is In the Air”: Romantic short films
· “ Motion Tunes”: Short films related to music
· “Save the Drama”: Drama short films
· “Films 101”: College made short films
· “High School Film Showcase”: Giff’s high school filmmaking competition sponsored by Suncoast Credit Union
Additionally, Gasparilla will feature in-depth, informative Industry Panels, including, Meet The Press, Casting Directors, “The Performance” Actor’s panel, Special Effects, Do’s, Don’ts for a Film Festival Run and “The Pitch.” Additionally, Giff is proud to welcome Academy Award nominated animator Bill Plympton (1987’s Your Face).
For more information on all the films to be screened and industry events, please go to:
www.gasparillafilmfestival.com...
This year’s special tribute will celebrate the many accomplishments of Oscar, Grammy, Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony winner Rita Moreno. Giff will honor Moreno with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Also, her film, "Remember Me" will screen at the festival.
A jury of industry professionals and acclaimed filmmakers will be presenting awards to competition films in the following categories: Narrative Feature, Documentary, Spotlight and Shorts.
Highlights include:
Opening Night Film (Narrative)
"Eye in the Sky" (UK): Academy Award winner Helen Mirren stars alongside Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman and Iain Glen in this timely thriller about a terrorist-targeting drone mission that becomes a flashpoint when a civilian girl enters the kill zone. Directed by Gavin Hood.
Closing Night Film (Narrative)
"Everybody Wants Some" (USA): A group of college baseball players navigate their way through the freedoms and responsibilities of unsupervised adulthood. Starring Zoey Deutch, Tyler Hoechlin, Ryan Guzman, Blake Jenner. Directed by Richard Linklater
Narrative Features:
"Precious Cargo" (World Premiere) : After a botched heist, Eddie, a murderous crime boss, hunts down the seductive thief Karen who failed him. In order to win back Eddie’s trust, Karen recruits her ex-lover and premier thief Jack. Starring Bruce Willis, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Claire Forlani. Directed by Max Adams. "Embrace Of The Serpent" (Colombia. Florida Premiere): Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. The story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of 40 years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant. Starring: Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolivar. Directed by Ciro Guerra "Ma Ma" (Spain. Florida Premiere): A woman recently diagnosed with cancer forms an unexpected bond with a soccer scout (Luis Tosar) whose wife has been gravely injured in a car accident. Starring: Academy Award winner Penélope Cruz. Directed by Julio Medem "Love and Friendship" (France/Netherlands. Florida Premiere): In the 18th century, the seductive and manipulative Lady Susan uses devious tactics to win the heart of the eligible Reginald De Courcy. Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny. Directed by Whit Stillman. "The Daughter" (Australia. Florida Premiere): A young man returns to his dying hometown and discovers a dark family secret that could tear apart the lives of those he left behind, in this contemporary adaptation of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck. Starring: Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush, Ewen Leslie, Paul Schneider, Miranda Otto, Anna Torv, with Odessa Young and Sam Neill. Directed by Simon Stone. "The Debt" (USA. Florida Premiere): A hedge-fund honcho puts through the deal of a lifetime: the redemption of a billion-dollar debt owed by the Peruvian government to its citizens. The quick buck soon turns into a nightmare. Starring: Stephen Dorff, Alberto Ammann, Carlos Bardem, and David Strathairn. Directed by Barney Elliott"The Adderall Diaries" (USA. Florida Premiere): Based on the bestselling memoir by Stephen Elliott, The Adderall Diaries is the story of an author paralyzed by writer's block and an escalating drug dependency who is sucked down the rabbit hole of a high-profile murder case. Starring:James Franco, Ed Harris and Amber Heard. Written and directed by Pamela Romanowsky"One More Time" (USA. Florida Premiere): After one too many big city problems, Jude heads to the Hamptons home of her father, an over-the-hill crooner desperately charting his musical comeback. Starring: Amber Heard, Kelli Garner and Christopher Walken. Directed by Robert Edwards. "Little Men" (USA. Florida Premiere): Jake is a quiet, sensitive middle schooler when he meets the affably brash Tony at his grandfather's funeral. The budding friendship is put at risk, however, when a rent dispute between Jake's father, Brian and Tony's mother, Leonor, threatens to become contentious. Starring: Greg Kinnear, Theo Taplitz, Michael Barbieri and Alfred Molina. Directed by Ira Sachs "A Beautiful Now" (USA. Florida Premiere): As a beautiful dancer balances between reality and fantasy, she asks her friends to help her figure out the passions and relationships that have shaped her identity. Starring: Abigail Spencer, Cheyenne Jackson, Collette Wolfe. Directed by: Daniela Amavia "Puerto Ricans in Paris" (USA. Florida Premiere): Two Puerto Rican NYPD detectives head to Paris to track down a stolen handbag. Starring: Luiz Guzman, Rosie Perez, Rosario Dawson. Directed by Ian Edelman "The Black Coat’s Daughter" (USA. Florida Premiere): Beautiful and haunted Joan makes a pilgrimage across a frozen landscape toward a prestigious all girls prep school where Rose and Kat find themselves stranded after their parents mysteriously fail to retrieve them for winter break. Starring: Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, James Remar, Lauren Holly. Directed by Osgood Perkins "The Truth About Lies" (USA. Florida Premiere): A desperate, unemployed man (Fran Kranz) who lives with his mother weaves an ever-growing web of lies to impress a beautiful woman. Starring: Fran Kranz, Odette Annable. Directed by Phil Allocco. Documentaries
"Hair I Go Again" (World Premiere): Facing a mid-life crossroads, two longtime friends risk everything as they set out to fulfill their dreams of achieving rock & roll stardom. Directed by: Steve McClure. "Hano! A Century in the Bleachers" (Florida Premiere): Meet Arnold Hano, 93, legendary sportswriter and social activist. Baseball fan, war veteran and storyteller emeritus: few have lived and chronicled the American experience as extensively. Directed by: Jon Leonoudakis. "Smart" (Florida Premiere): Groundbreaking feature-length documentary about a group of highly trained, adrenaline-fueled professionals who risk life and limb to rescue animals. They're Los Angeles' Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team! Directed by Justin Zimmerman "No Greater Love" (Florida Premiere): U.S. Army Chaplain Justin Roberts goes on missions with the legendary No Slack battalion in Afghanistan in 2010/2011 armed with only a camera. Directed by Justin Roberts.
Cuban Sidebar: Films focusing on Cuba
"Craving Cuba" (World Premiere): A Cuban-American woman seeks to understand her true identity. Directed by: Zuzy Martin Lynch "The Forbidden Shore" (World Premiere)- The amazing diversity of contemporary Cuban music is gorgeously explored in Ron Chapman’s third documentary feature. Chapman captures the full gamut of what’s happening now in Cuba, both the most exciting artists and the distinct musical scenes they move In. Directed by Ron Chapman. "Havana Motor Club" (Florida Premiere): Reforms have offered opportunity in Cuba but the children of the Revolution are unsure of the best route forward. For a half-dozen drag racers, this means last-minute changes to their beloved American muscle cars, as they prepare for the first sanctioned race in Cuba since 1960. Directed by Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt
Florida Focus : World premiere of independent films made in Florida
"Waiting on Mary" : A struggling actor, traumatized by a brutal divorce, assumes the personality of a colonial character he played at a failed amusement park as a way of retreating from his pain. Directed by: Corey Horton "Bear With Us" : A modern farce about a guy who attempts to propose to his girlfriend in the most romantic way possible, but his plan falls apart when a ravenous bear stumbles on their charming cabin in the woods. Directed by: William Stribling. "Dooder And the Lighthouse" : Dooder Parker is eighty-six and full of life. When the historic lighthouse in his hometown becomes doomed to fall into the Gulf, his recounting of local history evolves into a reflection on his love for his wife. Stories intertwine to paint a portrait of a vanishing way of life. Directed by: Clayton Long & Lisa Long In addition to feature length films, Giff will present over 70 short films. Short film blocks include:
“Lol”: Comedic short films · “Films on a Mission”: Short films focusing on a specific cause
· “Thrill Ride”: Thriller, action, and horror short films.
· “Love is In the Air”: Romantic short films
· “ Motion Tunes”: Short films related to music
· “Save the Drama”: Drama short films
· “Films 101”: College made short films
· “High School Film Showcase”: Giff’s high school filmmaking competition sponsored by Suncoast Credit Union
Additionally, Gasparilla will feature in-depth, informative Industry Panels, including, Meet The Press, Casting Directors, “The Performance” Actor’s panel, Special Effects, Do’s, Don’ts for a Film Festival Run and “The Pitch.” Additionally, Giff is proud to welcome Academy Award nominated animator Bill Plympton (1987’s Your Face).
For more information on all the films to be screened and industry events, please go to:
www.gasparillafilmfestival.com...
- 3/23/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The following contains material from the November 2015 review when the film was presented at the St. Louis International Film Festival.
We often hear people remark about how they’ve got a tune or melody “stuck in their head”. The same thing could be said for certain…magical…memorable films. An image or a sequence can stay in your brain for a long, long while. Embrace Of The Serpent is one such cinematic experience. It’s based on a true story. Oh wait, it’s based on two true stories, linked together by one remarkable man and, perhaps, the most famous, celebrated river in the world, the Amazon. And the man is Karamakate, the last shaman of his jungle tribe. We first meet him in 1940, deep into his sixties as played by Antonio Bolivar, when he encounters a man foreign to his home, an American scientist Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis...
We often hear people remark about how they’ve got a tune or melody “stuck in their head”. The same thing could be said for certain…magical…memorable films. An image or a sequence can stay in your brain for a long, long while. Embrace Of The Serpent is one such cinematic experience. It’s based on a true story. Oh wait, it’s based on two true stories, linked together by one remarkable man and, perhaps, the most famous, celebrated river in the world, the Amazon. And the man is Karamakate, the last shaman of his jungle tribe. We first meet him in 1940, deep into his sixties as played by Antonio Bolivar, when he encounters a man foreign to his home, an American scientist Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis...
- 3/11/2016
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
More intriguing in its ambitions than in it successes, which are limited, and oddly keeps its distance from the very people it wants to enlighten us about. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Decades apart, two white scientists delve into the Amazonian rainforest in search of a rare plant with medicinal and hallucinatory qualities, with the assistance of a local shaman on opposite ends of his own life journey. Embrace of the Serpent attempts to frame the destruction of the rainforest’s ecology and peoples as a slow-motion tragedy on scales both personal and cultural, but it is more intriguing in its ambitions, which frustrate it, than in it successes, which are limited.
Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra and his cinematographer, David Gallego, shoot in black-and-white, which is at once visually distinctive but also rather flattening,...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Decades apart, two white scientists delve into the Amazonian rainforest in search of a rare plant with medicinal and hallucinatory qualities, with the assistance of a local shaman on opposite ends of his own life journey. Embrace of the Serpent attempts to frame the destruction of the rainforest’s ecology and peoples as a slow-motion tragedy on scales both personal and cultural, but it is more intriguing in its ambitions, which frustrate it, than in it successes, which are limited.
Colombian filmmaker Ciro Guerra and his cinematographer, David Gallego, shoot in black-and-white, which is at once visually distinctive but also rather flattening,...
- 2/28/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Emerging from the collision between the ravaging colonial powers and the native population, the history of Latin America is marked by the constant struggle between these cultural forces. One sought to conquer and prevail violently, while the other fought not be vanished in their own land. In the majestically ambitious Colombian stunner “Embrace of the Serpent,” the evolving effects of this encounter are observed through the events that two Western explorers - in two different time periods - witnessed during their travels in the Amazon.
Director Ciro Guerra took their first-hand accounts to ground his black-and-white masterpiece as close as possible in the historical facts; however, the film is fantastically wrapped in a mystical aura that is at once revelatory, perplexing, emotionally stimulating, and spellbinding. It’s like looking at the world for the first time after experiencing an epiphany induced by an intangible and unquantifiable source of wisdom. By focusing on these infinitely profound truths about life, which the indigenous people of his homeland have managed to grasp via millennia of a connection with the natural world, Guerra constructs a vision that is at the crossroads between Malick and Herzog and yet unquestionably his own.
Discussing the intricacies of this magnificent cinematic achievement with Guerra and one of the stars of the film, Brionne Davis, one becomes immediately aware of the magnitude of such undertaking. From Guerra’s painstaking path to strive for authenticity by casting indigenous actors to English-speaking taking on the challenge of learning the right pronunciation of region’s native languages to honor them on screen, “Embrace of the Serpent” is a work that defies the limits between history and legend with a dreamlike quality very few filmmakers would dare to attempt.
CA: "Embrace of the Serpent" is a stunning look at colonialism and the clash between Western worldviews and the traditional philosophies used by indigenous people to understand their environment. When thinking about the film and its themes, two opposing words come to mind: savagery and knowledge. These concepts become interchangeable in the context this story about explorer's realizing that there is wisdom beyond what they know. What's your perception of these ideas in relation to the film?
Ciro Guerra: The film portrays what happened in history. It's a turning point. Before the events that you see in the film the indigenous people of the world were only seen as subhuman. They were seen as poor, abandoned, godforsaken creatures, that you could kill with no problem. There was no problem in wiping them out because they thought there was no culture or nothing there to save. These two were the first ones to treat them humanely and the first to tell the world that this knowledge is important and that there is something we can learn from them. They don’t have to learn from us, we have something to learn from them. That’s true even to this day. Traditional knowledge matters because there’s a lot that science, fact and rationalism cannot give us.
We have trusted Western culture and relied in that, but it cannot give you a scientific explanation on what a thought is, you can’t get a scientific explanation on what a soul is, or what love really is. All the important things are beyond that. This extreme dependence on rationalism has brought Western culture to a big spiritual crisis. People today are looking for answers and they feel empty in many ways. These are problems that traditional cultures don’t have because they have accepted the mystery of the world. They have accepted it and lived with it. They respect this mystery in numerous ways and that’s something we can learn from. That’s what’s interesting to me in terms of making the film. At one point this could have easily been the history of another Holocaust, because what really happened there was genocide, but I wasn’t interested in making a Holocaust movie. What was interesting to me was this knowledge that was about to be lost, and that is still with us thanks to the fact that is was transmitted and managed to break these barriers of intolerance, violence, and of cultures imposing one over the other.
Brionne Davis: A journalist made a comment that I though was really brilliant. It said that my character had an over confidence in his own intellect and I think that definitely resembles the Western culture 100%, whether it be religion or science, we think we know the answers and you have to abide by that. I think that there is a savagery in that. The history of Colombia - I got a nice history lesson there from Ciro who knows far more than I do -from when Spain came over and imposed the religion there has been this thick woven fabric of Catholicism, but there is also the fabric of their native culture and their traditions, which is really strong.
These two cultures are so close but they don’t match. They don’t mix, which is represented in the film. You see the worst of both worlds. There was a church in right in the middle of the community where we were shooting and everyday at five this bell would ring and for me it was incredible, to hear that tat bell everyday was just a reminder of the horror that they’ve gone through 600 years before and continue until even today. The rubber barons would send their criminals to take over the land and create these slave camps.
All of that violence is now part of the DNA of the Amazon jungle. I think that violence is definitely prominent in the fabric of the people there. In terms of knowledge, there are some things that we can know intellectually and those are the facts and that’s something that we have to acknowledge, but there is this other thing we can’t put our finger on but we have to just open ourselves up to the experience and listen, which is a knowledge in and of itself. It’s not an intellectual knowledge. It’s nothing you can lay fact or write out. It’s something you have to sense and feel. Somebody asked me at one of the Q&As about the jaguar and the snake and that for me is something that I can’t explain to you. I love archetypes in film and I love the usage of them. When watching the film you have to walk away with whatever you are going to take from that, which is knowledge that you can’t teach.
CA: Ciro, You dedicate the film to “the people whose songs we’ll never hear,” and it's clear that language is a pivotal tool to understand the world around us, yet so many have of them have vanished at the hands of oppression. Losing a language is losing irreplaceable knowledge. Considering this, how crucial was it for you to be able to make these film in indigenous languages?
Ciro: Guerra: It was important to me that the film was respectful to the native languages of the Amazon. Just the fact that these languages are spoken in the film adds millennia of information, but there is also something profound that expresses itself through language that cannot be replicated or mimicked. For example, in Wanano language the word for dawn or sunrise is the same word you use to refer to the female sexual organ. In Ticuna there is no word to say friend, instead you say, “my other heart,” that’s what how you refer to a friend. Every language is a way of understanding the worlds and respecting these languages was essential to the point of the film. In that sense the biggest challenge was for Brionne and Jan Bijvoet, the actors who were incredibly courageous and committed. It wasn’t only a matter of coming to Colombia to shoot a film in the jungle, but also doing it in indigenous language. Now that the film has been shown in the Amazon, for the people of the Amazon it was a tremendous thing to see not only their language portrayed on screen but also to see foreign actors speaking those languages. It has been a really empowering and validating thing because these languages were forbidden for centuries or they were hunted down. They tried to kill these languages, and whenever a language disappears something so deep and so profound that disappears. That is indescribable.
CA: The fact that their language is so connected to nature and their environment really tells us about who they are as a people
Ciro: Guerra: Yes, even the way it sounds. Even if you can’t understand it, just to be able to hear it transmits or passes along something that’s important. We were lucky because this film has words in languages that could disappear within a generation.
CA: Brionne, you play a character that was fluent in several languages, including an indigenous tongue. Tell me about how challenging was it to venture into learning to pronounce those words and the pressure of doing it justice on screen.
Brionne Davis: Speaking Huitoto was definitely the greatest challenge. There are certain obligations you have not only portraying a character that’s based on a real person, there is, of course, an obligation you have to him and his legacy, but there is the obligation of telling a story like this and then taking something as precious as someone’s culture’s language and giving it justice. I spent a lot of time with Antonio Bolivar and he was very giving. He is a phenomenal human being. For ten hours a day I would go in and write, write, write. It would take me three hours to memorize just a phrase and because I wanted to be able to feel it in my mouth. I’m not an intellectual learner. I’m a spiritual and emotional learner and interpreter of life. It was difficult for me, so I knew I just had to put in my mouth so that I could think in English, and my objective would be English, but my mouth would move and those words, hopefully correctly, would come out. It was pretty amazing and there were a few times where Antonio would be speaking in this language and I would just instinctively reply. There were a couple of time when that happened and we were both very excited for me to do it and him for witnessing it. The fact that I got to be a person who spoke that language is an honor. Is humbling. It was a humbling experience to be part of something so grand.
CA: One of the most breathtaking aspects of "Embrace of the Serpent" is the cinematography and the visual choices that spellbind the audience and transport us into a place between reality and myth. Where did this stylistic elements come from, in particular your decision to make the film in black-and-white?
Ciro Guerra: The visual inspiration for the film came from the explorer’s images. When I saw these photos of them, which were almost like daguerreotypes, it was very impressive because they were completely different to the idea we have of the Amazon. It was an Amazon completely freed from all that exoticism or that exuberance that normally people associate with it. It was like looking at another world that was speaking to me through those images. In those images there is no difference between man and his environment. Is not like in these images nature is green and we, humans, are of a different color. Everything is made of the same mater. In these black-and-white photos the entire world appears to be made of the same material. That was very impacting for me, and I wanted the film to have that sense. I wanted to recreate the sensation that those photographs produced in me.
At the same time, I think it’s impossible to reproduce the colors or the Amazon in film or video. Its color is varied and has so many nuances that people there have over 50 words for the color green. But when you photographed in black-and-white, you allow the audience to be the one that imagines it and think of its color. This sparks the audience’s imagination, which is what we hoped to do. It has worked, even thought the film is in black-and-white there are people who have told me they see color in the film. They would ask if a certain scene was in color because that’s how they perceived it. It was such a big decision to make the film in black-and-white because it affects everything else. It would be a completely different film if it were in color. It wouldn’t be this one.
CA: Casting indigenous actors from the very communities you are depicting truly embedded the film with authenticity and honors the importance of their cultural contributions. How difficult was it for you and your team to find them and elicit the performances we see on screen even from those cast members that had no previous acting experience?
Ciro Guerra: It was one of my biggest concerns to find indigenous actors who could portray these complex characters, which involved reaching out to people that have no connection to acting, film, or television. The story of how we found the right actor for each character is unique. We were looking at a lot of people for the same character, but I feel that the only people that could play these characters are the ones in the film. They were found at different times, and each one of them has his story. I spoke to a lot of shamans, “payes,” and elderly men, and I couldn’t find anyone that was even remotely close to what the character in the film is. I watched all the material that has been filmed in the Colombian Amazon, which is not a lot. While watching this material, I found a short film that was made 30 years ago in the Amazon. There was a character that is only in the film for a brief moment but who has a very striking face. I found his name, I contacted him, I went to look for him, and when I knocked on his door this man, Antonio Bolivar, appeared. The moment I saw him I knew that the film could be made. There was no one like him among all the people I considered. It was very impressive and he had experience. He knew what acting was and he knew what acting for the camera was. I invited him to participate, but the problem was that he had had a very bad experience with that short film and he had said he would never do it again.
We explained to him what we wanted to do. He looked at me very deeply and he understood that I wasn’t going to cheat him like it had happened to him before. Then he accepted. Once he accepted he gave his all to the project. Regarding the other character, young Karamakate, we were around Mitú, which is the place where we shot, inviting people in these communities to participate in the film and asking them if they were interested. Everyone was happy and they were all excited to collaborate both in front and behind the camera, which was the idea we had originally. In one of the communities in Santa Marta, people were really happy and we were taking photos of them. Everyone wanted their photo taken, but there was a character that didn’t want his photo taken and said that he wasn’t interested in participating in the project. However, in these communities is all or nothing. Either all of them participated or none of them would. Everyone told him, “We already said yes, so you have to agree too.” He continued to say, “No,” but his friends and family insisted so much that he said, “Ok, I’ll do it, but if I do it I’m going to be the protagonist of the film.”
His name is Nilbio, and when I saw his photo it was incredible. He looks like a character from a folk tale, like a shaman warrior from the past that I thought didn’t exist anymore. We told him what we were trying to do and he understood it was the story of his ancestors, a story that he had heard from his grandparents. He was very enthusiastic. When people in these communities agree to do something, they do it with total emotion, enthusiasm, but also with a lot of ingenuity, which is a great thing. When they tell you, “Yes,” they give it their all at all cost and don’t look back. I thought it would be much harder to work with them and explain to them what acting is, but I realized they have a very powerful tool, which is their strong oral storytelling tradition. That gives them the ability to listen truthfully, and an actor that knows how to listen is hard to find. Because of this tradition they are already halfway there in terms of acting. It was much easier than we thought it would be. From that point on it was possible to quickly develop the characters and the results surprised us all.
CA: The screenplay, as you mentioned, is based on the explorers’ written accounts, but there it's also laced with a lot of mysticism. Why did you think that these moments in which the spiritual world takes over were necessary to tell this Amazonian story in an honest manner?
Ciro Guerra: The film was first grounded on a thorough ethnographic investigation, but then I realized that I was too worried about being accurate and loyal to reality. When I started working with the Amazonian communities I discovered that for them imagination, myths, and folk tales are as valid as history and facts. There was a lot of freedom there to dream and to interpret. Despite the fact that we had done all these research beforehand, what I wanted was for the film to be embedded with these other elements. I wanted it to feel like and indigenous folk tale, and those are folk tales where logic is subverted and where reality ruptures. I wanted the film to have these ruptures in reality and these moments in which imagination and dreams are in command. These are moments in which the logic of imagination and dreams guide the film, which is the logic that would fully guide the film if it were told from the other point of view rather than that of the explorer’s. Getting to that point was a lot of work, it was very hard for me to change that Western perception we have in our heads. I wanted to build a bridge for the general audience to understand it, because the Amazonian folk tales are very hard to comprehend. Some of them are incomprehensible for us.
"Embrace of the Serpent" is now playing L.A. at the Nuart Theatre and in NYC at Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas...
Director Ciro Guerra took their first-hand accounts to ground his black-and-white masterpiece as close as possible in the historical facts; however, the film is fantastically wrapped in a mystical aura that is at once revelatory, perplexing, emotionally stimulating, and spellbinding. It’s like looking at the world for the first time after experiencing an epiphany induced by an intangible and unquantifiable source of wisdom. By focusing on these infinitely profound truths about life, which the indigenous people of his homeland have managed to grasp via millennia of a connection with the natural world, Guerra constructs a vision that is at the crossroads between Malick and Herzog and yet unquestionably his own.
Discussing the intricacies of this magnificent cinematic achievement with Guerra and one of the stars of the film, Brionne Davis, one becomes immediately aware of the magnitude of such undertaking. From Guerra’s painstaking path to strive for authenticity by casting indigenous actors to English-speaking taking on the challenge of learning the right pronunciation of region’s native languages to honor them on screen, “Embrace of the Serpent” is a work that defies the limits between history and legend with a dreamlike quality very few filmmakers would dare to attempt.
CA: "Embrace of the Serpent" is a stunning look at colonialism and the clash between Western worldviews and the traditional philosophies used by indigenous people to understand their environment. When thinking about the film and its themes, two opposing words come to mind: savagery and knowledge. These concepts become interchangeable in the context this story about explorer's realizing that there is wisdom beyond what they know. What's your perception of these ideas in relation to the film?
Ciro Guerra: The film portrays what happened in history. It's a turning point. Before the events that you see in the film the indigenous people of the world were only seen as subhuman. They were seen as poor, abandoned, godforsaken creatures, that you could kill with no problem. There was no problem in wiping them out because they thought there was no culture or nothing there to save. These two were the first ones to treat them humanely and the first to tell the world that this knowledge is important and that there is something we can learn from them. They don’t have to learn from us, we have something to learn from them. That’s true even to this day. Traditional knowledge matters because there’s a lot that science, fact and rationalism cannot give us.
We have trusted Western culture and relied in that, but it cannot give you a scientific explanation on what a thought is, you can’t get a scientific explanation on what a soul is, or what love really is. All the important things are beyond that. This extreme dependence on rationalism has brought Western culture to a big spiritual crisis. People today are looking for answers and they feel empty in many ways. These are problems that traditional cultures don’t have because they have accepted the mystery of the world. They have accepted it and lived with it. They respect this mystery in numerous ways and that’s something we can learn from. That’s what’s interesting to me in terms of making the film. At one point this could have easily been the history of another Holocaust, because what really happened there was genocide, but I wasn’t interested in making a Holocaust movie. What was interesting to me was this knowledge that was about to be lost, and that is still with us thanks to the fact that is was transmitted and managed to break these barriers of intolerance, violence, and of cultures imposing one over the other.
Brionne Davis: A journalist made a comment that I though was really brilliant. It said that my character had an over confidence in his own intellect and I think that definitely resembles the Western culture 100%, whether it be religion or science, we think we know the answers and you have to abide by that. I think that there is a savagery in that. The history of Colombia - I got a nice history lesson there from Ciro who knows far more than I do -from when Spain came over and imposed the religion there has been this thick woven fabric of Catholicism, but there is also the fabric of their native culture and their traditions, which is really strong.
These two cultures are so close but they don’t match. They don’t mix, which is represented in the film. You see the worst of both worlds. There was a church in right in the middle of the community where we were shooting and everyday at five this bell would ring and for me it was incredible, to hear that tat bell everyday was just a reminder of the horror that they’ve gone through 600 years before and continue until even today. The rubber barons would send their criminals to take over the land and create these slave camps.
All of that violence is now part of the DNA of the Amazon jungle. I think that violence is definitely prominent in the fabric of the people there. In terms of knowledge, there are some things that we can know intellectually and those are the facts and that’s something that we have to acknowledge, but there is this other thing we can’t put our finger on but we have to just open ourselves up to the experience and listen, which is a knowledge in and of itself. It’s not an intellectual knowledge. It’s nothing you can lay fact or write out. It’s something you have to sense and feel. Somebody asked me at one of the Q&As about the jaguar and the snake and that for me is something that I can’t explain to you. I love archetypes in film and I love the usage of them. When watching the film you have to walk away with whatever you are going to take from that, which is knowledge that you can’t teach.
CA: Ciro, You dedicate the film to “the people whose songs we’ll never hear,” and it's clear that language is a pivotal tool to understand the world around us, yet so many have of them have vanished at the hands of oppression. Losing a language is losing irreplaceable knowledge. Considering this, how crucial was it for you to be able to make these film in indigenous languages?
Ciro: Guerra: It was important to me that the film was respectful to the native languages of the Amazon. Just the fact that these languages are spoken in the film adds millennia of information, but there is also something profound that expresses itself through language that cannot be replicated or mimicked. For example, in Wanano language the word for dawn or sunrise is the same word you use to refer to the female sexual organ. In Ticuna there is no word to say friend, instead you say, “my other heart,” that’s what how you refer to a friend. Every language is a way of understanding the worlds and respecting these languages was essential to the point of the film. In that sense the biggest challenge was for Brionne and Jan Bijvoet, the actors who were incredibly courageous and committed. It wasn’t only a matter of coming to Colombia to shoot a film in the jungle, but also doing it in indigenous language. Now that the film has been shown in the Amazon, for the people of the Amazon it was a tremendous thing to see not only their language portrayed on screen but also to see foreign actors speaking those languages. It has been a really empowering and validating thing because these languages were forbidden for centuries or they were hunted down. They tried to kill these languages, and whenever a language disappears something so deep and so profound that disappears. That is indescribable.
CA: The fact that their language is so connected to nature and their environment really tells us about who they are as a people
Ciro: Guerra: Yes, even the way it sounds. Even if you can’t understand it, just to be able to hear it transmits or passes along something that’s important. We were lucky because this film has words in languages that could disappear within a generation.
CA: Brionne, you play a character that was fluent in several languages, including an indigenous tongue. Tell me about how challenging was it to venture into learning to pronounce those words and the pressure of doing it justice on screen.
Brionne Davis: Speaking Huitoto was definitely the greatest challenge. There are certain obligations you have not only portraying a character that’s based on a real person, there is, of course, an obligation you have to him and his legacy, but there is the obligation of telling a story like this and then taking something as precious as someone’s culture’s language and giving it justice. I spent a lot of time with Antonio Bolivar and he was very giving. He is a phenomenal human being. For ten hours a day I would go in and write, write, write. It would take me three hours to memorize just a phrase and because I wanted to be able to feel it in my mouth. I’m not an intellectual learner. I’m a spiritual and emotional learner and interpreter of life. It was difficult for me, so I knew I just had to put in my mouth so that I could think in English, and my objective would be English, but my mouth would move and those words, hopefully correctly, would come out. It was pretty amazing and there were a few times where Antonio would be speaking in this language and I would just instinctively reply. There were a couple of time when that happened and we were both very excited for me to do it and him for witnessing it. The fact that I got to be a person who spoke that language is an honor. Is humbling. It was a humbling experience to be part of something so grand.
CA: One of the most breathtaking aspects of "Embrace of the Serpent" is the cinematography and the visual choices that spellbind the audience and transport us into a place between reality and myth. Where did this stylistic elements come from, in particular your decision to make the film in black-and-white?
Ciro Guerra: The visual inspiration for the film came from the explorer’s images. When I saw these photos of them, which were almost like daguerreotypes, it was very impressive because they were completely different to the idea we have of the Amazon. It was an Amazon completely freed from all that exoticism or that exuberance that normally people associate with it. It was like looking at another world that was speaking to me through those images. In those images there is no difference between man and his environment. Is not like in these images nature is green and we, humans, are of a different color. Everything is made of the same mater. In these black-and-white photos the entire world appears to be made of the same material. That was very impacting for me, and I wanted the film to have that sense. I wanted to recreate the sensation that those photographs produced in me.
At the same time, I think it’s impossible to reproduce the colors or the Amazon in film or video. Its color is varied and has so many nuances that people there have over 50 words for the color green. But when you photographed in black-and-white, you allow the audience to be the one that imagines it and think of its color. This sparks the audience’s imagination, which is what we hoped to do. It has worked, even thought the film is in black-and-white there are people who have told me they see color in the film. They would ask if a certain scene was in color because that’s how they perceived it. It was such a big decision to make the film in black-and-white because it affects everything else. It would be a completely different film if it were in color. It wouldn’t be this one.
CA: Casting indigenous actors from the very communities you are depicting truly embedded the film with authenticity and honors the importance of their cultural contributions. How difficult was it for you and your team to find them and elicit the performances we see on screen even from those cast members that had no previous acting experience?
Ciro Guerra: It was one of my biggest concerns to find indigenous actors who could portray these complex characters, which involved reaching out to people that have no connection to acting, film, or television. The story of how we found the right actor for each character is unique. We were looking at a lot of people for the same character, but I feel that the only people that could play these characters are the ones in the film. They were found at different times, and each one of them has his story. I spoke to a lot of shamans, “payes,” and elderly men, and I couldn’t find anyone that was even remotely close to what the character in the film is. I watched all the material that has been filmed in the Colombian Amazon, which is not a lot. While watching this material, I found a short film that was made 30 years ago in the Amazon. There was a character that is only in the film for a brief moment but who has a very striking face. I found his name, I contacted him, I went to look for him, and when I knocked on his door this man, Antonio Bolivar, appeared. The moment I saw him I knew that the film could be made. There was no one like him among all the people I considered. It was very impressive and he had experience. He knew what acting was and he knew what acting for the camera was. I invited him to participate, but the problem was that he had had a very bad experience with that short film and he had said he would never do it again.
We explained to him what we wanted to do. He looked at me very deeply and he understood that I wasn’t going to cheat him like it had happened to him before. Then he accepted. Once he accepted he gave his all to the project. Regarding the other character, young Karamakate, we were around Mitú, which is the place where we shot, inviting people in these communities to participate in the film and asking them if they were interested. Everyone was happy and they were all excited to collaborate both in front and behind the camera, which was the idea we had originally. In one of the communities in Santa Marta, people were really happy and we were taking photos of them. Everyone wanted their photo taken, but there was a character that didn’t want his photo taken and said that he wasn’t interested in participating in the project. However, in these communities is all or nothing. Either all of them participated or none of them would. Everyone told him, “We already said yes, so you have to agree too.” He continued to say, “No,” but his friends and family insisted so much that he said, “Ok, I’ll do it, but if I do it I’m going to be the protagonist of the film.”
His name is Nilbio, and when I saw his photo it was incredible. He looks like a character from a folk tale, like a shaman warrior from the past that I thought didn’t exist anymore. We told him what we were trying to do and he understood it was the story of his ancestors, a story that he had heard from his grandparents. He was very enthusiastic. When people in these communities agree to do something, they do it with total emotion, enthusiasm, but also with a lot of ingenuity, which is a great thing. When they tell you, “Yes,” they give it their all at all cost and don’t look back. I thought it would be much harder to work with them and explain to them what acting is, but I realized they have a very powerful tool, which is their strong oral storytelling tradition. That gives them the ability to listen truthfully, and an actor that knows how to listen is hard to find. Because of this tradition they are already halfway there in terms of acting. It was much easier than we thought it would be. From that point on it was possible to quickly develop the characters and the results surprised us all.
CA: The screenplay, as you mentioned, is based on the explorers’ written accounts, but there it's also laced with a lot of mysticism. Why did you think that these moments in which the spiritual world takes over were necessary to tell this Amazonian story in an honest manner?
Ciro Guerra: The film was first grounded on a thorough ethnographic investigation, but then I realized that I was too worried about being accurate and loyal to reality. When I started working with the Amazonian communities I discovered that for them imagination, myths, and folk tales are as valid as history and facts. There was a lot of freedom there to dream and to interpret. Despite the fact that we had done all these research beforehand, what I wanted was for the film to be embedded with these other elements. I wanted it to feel like and indigenous folk tale, and those are folk tales where logic is subverted and where reality ruptures. I wanted the film to have these ruptures in reality and these moments in which imagination and dreams are in command. These are moments in which the logic of imagination and dreams guide the film, which is the logic that would fully guide the film if it were told from the other point of view rather than that of the explorer’s. Getting to that point was a lot of work, it was very hard for me to change that Western perception we have in our heads. I wanted to build a bridge for the general audience to understand it, because the Amazonian folk tales are very hard to comprehend. Some of them are incomprehensible for us.
"Embrace of the Serpent" is now playing L.A. at the Nuart Theatre and in NYC at Film Forum and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas...
- 2/20/2016
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The Oscars are just over a week away, and the Foreign Film category is always one that's fun to keep an eye on. Not only does it feature great films, unlike the main categories which are discussed to death before Oscar night, the Foreign Film category tends to genuinely surprise. And one movie that could walk away with the big prize is "Embrace Of The Serpent," and today we have an exclusive clip. Read More: Watch: First Trailer For Cannes Winner 'Embrace Of The Serpent' Columbia's entry for the Oscars is directed by Ciro Guerra, stars Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolivar, and Yauenkü Miguee, and centers on Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and the last survivor of his people, and the two scientists who, over the course of 40 years, build a friendship with him. "There’s an idea in many of the texts that explore the...
- 2/17/2016
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
With even the Oscar nominated short films currently nearing the end of their theatrical run, one would imagine that just about every single film with a nomination in this year’s Oscar field would either be in theaters right now, or awaiting a home video release after a lengthy run in theaters big or small alike. However, if you’re director Ciro Guerra, you’re film is not only hitting theaters for the first time this week, but still making the festival circuit.
With a limited release beginning on February 17 in New York and on February 19 in La, Guerra’s latest film, the Oscar nominated foreign language film Embrace Of The Serpent, is also part of this year’s Portland International Film Festival, and joins The Sky Trembles as not only the festival’s most profoundly beautiful picture, but one of the most sumptuous black and white features in ages.
With a limited release beginning on February 17 in New York and on February 19 in La, Guerra’s latest film, the Oscar nominated foreign language film Embrace Of The Serpent, is also part of this year’s Portland International Film Festival, and joins The Sky Trembles as not only the festival’s most profoundly beautiful picture, but one of the most sumptuous black and white features in ages.
- 2/17/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Hearts of Darkness: Guerra’s Exceptional Exploration of Ruinous Colonialization
Colombian director Ciro Guerra charts an enigmatic narrative of parallel odysseys through the Amazon with his third feature, Embrace of the Serpent is no less intimate in its rendering of human interaction than previous films The Wandering Shadows (2004) and The Wind Journeys (2009), Guerra’s stark allegory of the extinction of indigenous cultures at the hands of well-meaning but ignorant white Europeans is powerfully resonant in this gorgeously shot film, touted as the first feature to be shot in the Colombian jungle in over three decades.
In 1909, ailing German explorer Theodor Koch–Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet) scours the Colombian jungle for isolated shaman Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), a guide he believes will lead him to an exotic plant known as yakruna, and thus restore his health. Karamakate, the last surviving member of his tribe, is incredibly wary of white men, and seems only...
Colombian director Ciro Guerra charts an enigmatic narrative of parallel odysseys through the Amazon with his third feature, Embrace of the Serpent is no less intimate in its rendering of human interaction than previous films The Wandering Shadows (2004) and The Wind Journeys (2009), Guerra’s stark allegory of the extinction of indigenous cultures at the hands of well-meaning but ignorant white Europeans is powerfully resonant in this gorgeously shot film, touted as the first feature to be shot in the Colombian jungle in over three decades.
In 1909, ailing German explorer Theodor Koch–Grunberg (Jan Bijvoet) scours the Colombian jungle for isolated shaman Karamakate (Nilbio Torres), a guide he believes will lead him to an exotic plant known as yakruna, and thus restore his health. Karamakate, the last surviving member of his tribe, is incredibly wary of white men, and seems only...
- 2/17/2016
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The entire Academy Awards endeavour seems to expand every year, as more and more often, shortlists are announced during the behind-the-scenes nominations process, ahead of the final nominations announcement. While that tends to make the awards season feel even longer, it does much to raise the profile of films that might otherwise be little noticed by general audiences – including those submitted to the Academy for consideration as Best Foreign Film.
The Academy accepts one submission from each country, and the deadline for those submissions was October 1st this year. The selection process then has two phases. In the first phase, the Foreign Language Film Award Committee screens each submission, and selects six for shortlisting, with an additional three selected by the Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee. This set of nine films is then announced as the shortlist, and this is the announcement we have seen today.
The shortlisted films...
The Academy accepts one submission from each country, and the deadline for those submissions was October 1st this year. The selection process then has two phases. In the first phase, the Foreign Language Film Award Committee screens each submission, and selects six for shortlisting, with an additional three selected by the Foreign Language Film Award Executive Committee. This set of nine films is then announced as the shortlist, and this is the announcement we have seen today.
The shortlisted films...
- 12/22/2015
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
Sundance 2016 is fast approaching. Last week we posted the movie lineup of Midnight and Competition film selections. We now have the complete lineup for the premieres in both the feature film and documentary categories. We also have their selections for the Spotlight and Kid films. I've also included a list of special events.
There are a lot of great films on this list that I'm excited about seeing because of the incredible talent involved. Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella star in Captain Fantastic; Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams star in Certain Women; Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates and Danny Glover star in Complete Unknown; Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez star in The Fundamentals of Caring; John Krasinski directed a film called The Hollars which he stars in with Anna Kendrick, Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, and Charlie Day; Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has made a new...
There are a lot of great films on this list that I'm excited about seeing because of the incredible talent involved. Viggo Mortensen and Frank Langella star in Captain Fantastic; Laura Dern, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams star in Certain Women; Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon, Kathy Bates and Danny Glover star in Complete Unknown; Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez star in The Fundamentals of Caring; John Krasinski directed a film called The Hollars which he stars in with Anna Kendrick, Margo Martindale, Richard Jenkins, Sharlto Copley, and Charlie Day; Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi has made a new...
- 12/13/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Kate Plays ChristineThe lineup for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, taking place between January 21 -31, has been announced.U.S. Dramatic COMPETITIONAs You Are (Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, USA): As You Are is the telling and retelling of a relationship between three teenagers as it traces the course of their friendship through a construction of disparate memories prompted by a police investigation. Cast: Owen Campbell, Charlie Heaton, Amandla Stenberg, John Scurti, Scott Cohen, Mary Stuart Masterson. World Premiere The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, USA): Set against the antebellum South, this story follows Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner, accepts an offer to use Nat’s preaching to subdue unruly slaves. After witnessing countless atrocities against fellow slaves, Nat devises a plan to lead his people to freedom. Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Mark Boone Jr. World PremiereChristine (Antonio Campos,...
- 12/7/2015
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Top brass at the Park City festival have rounded out the feature line-up with a dazzling selection on paper that includes new work from Asif Kapadia and other returning alumni such as Todd Solondz, Taika Waititi and Joshua Marston.Scroll Down For Full List
Road movie The Fundamentals Of Caring by Rob Burnett starring Paul Rudd will close the festival, while Maggie Greenwald’s Sophie And The Rising Sun is the Salt Lake City Gala Film. Heid Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You is a Day One Film.
The Premieres line-up introduces Indignation, the feature directorial debut from former Focus Features CEO and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter James Schamus, and the latest world premieres from John Carney, Kenneth Lonergan, Ira Sachs and Diego Luna.
The Documentary Premieres section encompass latest films from Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Liz Garbus and Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
The Spotlight...
Road movie The Fundamentals Of Caring by Rob Burnett starring Paul Rudd will close the festival, while Maggie Greenwald’s Sophie And The Rising Sun is the Salt Lake City Gala Film. Heid Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You is a Day One Film.
The Premieres line-up introduces Indignation, the feature directorial debut from former Focus Features CEO and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter James Schamus, and the latest world premieres from John Carney, Kenneth Lonergan, Ira Sachs and Diego Luna.
The Documentary Premieres section encompass latest films from Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Liz Garbus and Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
The Spotlight...
- 12/7/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Top brass at the Park City festival have rounded out the feature line-up with a dazzling selection on paper that includes new work from Asif Kapadia and other returning alumni such as Todd Solondz, Taika Waititi and Joshua Marston.Scroll Down For Full List
Road movie The Fundamentals Of Caring by Rob Burnett starring Paul Rudd will close the festival, while Maggie Greenwald’s Sophie And The Rising Sun is the Salt Lake City Gala Film. Heid Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You is a Day One Film.
The Premieres line-up introduces Indignation, the feature directorial debut from former Focus Features CEO and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter James Schamus, and the latest world premieres from John Carney, Kenneth Lonergan, Ira Sachs and Diego Luna.
The Documentary Premieres section encompass latest films from Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Liz Garbus and Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
The Spotlight...
Road movie The Fundamentals Of Caring by Rob Burnett starring Paul Rudd will close the festival, while Maggie Greenwald’s Sophie And The Rising Sun is the Salt Lake City Gala Film. Heid Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You is a Day One Film.
The Premieres line-up introduces Indignation, the feature directorial debut from former Focus Features CEO and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon screenwriter James Schamus, and the latest world premieres from John Carney, Kenneth Lonergan, Ira Sachs and Diego Luna.
The Documentary Premieres section encompass latest films from Werner Herzog, Spike Lee, Liz Garbus and Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato.
The Spotlight...
- 12/7/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
We often hear people remark about how they’ve got a tune or melody “stuck in their head”. The same thing could be said for certain…magical…memorable films. An image or a sequence can stay in your brain for a long, long while. Embrace Of The Serpent is one such cinematic experience. It’s based on a true story. Oh wait, it’s based on two true stories, linked together by one remarkable man and, perhaps, the most famous, celebrated river in the world, the Amazon. And the man is Karamakate, the last shaman of his jungle tribe. We first meet him in 1940, deep into his sixties as played by Antonio Bolivar, when he encounters a man foreign to his home, an American scientist Richard Evans Schultes (Brionne Davis), who is in search of the healing plant, the yakruna. He had read about it in the diary of another scientist,...
- 11/5/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
★★★★☆ Despite eschewing colour in favour of the rich textures of monochrome, Ciro Guerra's Embrace of the Serpent (2015) manages to be one of the most vivid depictions of the Amazon committed to celluloid. Shot on sumptuous Super 35, the black and white photography lends itself to the film's sorrowful ode to a world devastated, but it is the ceaseless teeming life of the soundtrack that transports the audience into the the midst of the rainforest. They're there to witness the upriver voyages of two western explorers over three decades apart, whose parallel journeys bring into sharp relief the harrowing effect of colonialism on the Amazon and its peoples.
"The river is full of fishes; we cannot possibly end them," rages an interloping westerner when it is suggested that fish should only be eaten during a certain phase of the surrounding's natural cycle. This call to listen to nature, to hear the rainforest when it speaks,...
"The river is full of fishes; we cannot possibly end them," rages an interloping westerner when it is suggested that fish should only be eaten during a certain phase of the surrounding's natural cycle. This call to listen to nature, to hear the rainforest when it speaks,...
- 9/14/2015
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.