ABOUT THE FILM
Not a doc. Not a fiction.
Shamans. Mermaids. Neon Mototaxis. Animals Myths. Ayahuasca Tourists. Pishtaco Gangs. Fever Dreams. Electric Cumbia. Amarre Love Spells. Beauty Pageants. The Day of San Juan. And Arela, an indigenous Shipiba trying to make sense of it all.
Arela, A Short Migration West is a film that lies somewhere between fiction and documentary, set amongst the Shipibo—an indigenous people in the low jungle of Peru and cultural keepers of the tradition of ayahuasca. As hundreds of spiritual tourists from all over the world descend upon the small native village of San Francisco, the Shipibo are obliged to live their culture as both identity and spectacle. With this tension as its backdrop, the film follows a local family as they enact a complicated and compelling drama situated within their real lives. Spoken entirely in the Shipibo language, the film is a collaboration with the Inuma family, who act as both subject and author, delving into a world that is equally as mythic as it is dramatic.
Daniel and Katya have been developing the project over the course of five years, in collaboration with Jeny, Andrew, and Justina Inuma. Through the incredible openness of the Inumas, they’ve been able to dive deep into the history of this rich and expanding culture.
As ayahuasca turns into an international phenomenon, captivating people from around the world, this film takes the perspective of those from whom this culture arose, and explores the radical changes that this exposure brings, for better and for worse.
SYNOPSIS
Arela is a 17-year-old indigenous Shipiba and minor introvert, living in a small village surrounded by ayahuasca retreats in the Peruvian Amazon. In between cooking, chores, and selling textiles to spiritual tourists, she watches over Lila, her rapidly maturing, younger sister. Arela feels conflicted about moving to Lima and joining her mother Cecilia, who earnestly peddles her native crafts and textiles on the beaches of Lima, hoping to make a better life for her children.
When Arela’s estranged father has a nightmare he interprets as an omen, he accuses Cecilia of laying a curse on him. Determined to set her name straight, Cecilia returns to the jungle to confront Manuel, igniting familial tensions. In turn, Arela has to face her growing resentment towards her mother as a long-distance-parent, and make sense of her place in a culture that is as much empowered as it is invisible.
Arela’s journey is woven into a wild comedy-drama involving corruption, beauty pageants, desert dreams, shamans, sexting, amarre love spells, Instagram-live stories, and whispers of a Pishtaco—a mythic figure who steals the fat of natives.