AMAHUACA SIEMPRE: AN AWARD WINNING DOCUMENTARY

The world has long been fascinated with the Amahuaca people who live  in a remote area of the Peruvian Amazon. In the early 1960s,  Anthropologists Robert Carneiro and Gertrude Dole from the American  Museum of Natural History, the photographer Cornell Capa and a writer  Matthew Huxley all visited the Amahuaca in the first evangelical mission  established for Amahuaca people.  Amahuaca people’s move into the  mission initiated a dramatic decades-long transition from living in  small isolated villages to permanent communities where they attend  school, participate in church services and organize around new leaders.  This moment was captured in the book, ‘Farewell to Eden,’ published in  1964, which predicted the Amahuaca would disappear in the face of  increasing contact with the outside world.
 

Yet in 2015, the  Amahuaca created their own Indigenous Cultural Heritage Center and  formed a new indigenous political federation to defend themselves  against outside threats and fight for better education and healthcare.  ‘Amahuaca Siempre’ follows three generations of Amahuaca as they reflect  on the past, navigate the complexities of life in modernizing Amazonia  and fight for a sustainable future. Drawing on archival materials and  footage of Amahuaca people’s ongoing struggles, the film explores themes  of memory, transformation, cultural heritage, and collective resilience  — issues that many indigenous peoples grapple with today.

The film was produced with the generous funding of the Wenner-Gren Foundation along with many individuals who provided support through a fundraising campaign.