TWO PARENTS, THREE KIDS AND A 1,000 MILE ROAD TRIP DEEP INTO THE AMAZON.
A FILM BY BORJA ALCALDE, EXPLORING THE HUMAN CONDITION IN AN INTIMATE STORY ABOUT LOVE, CONFLICT AND LIFE CHOICES.
In a quest to find balance between ancestral beliefs and urban life, Peruvian shamans Carmen and Sergio, and their three teenage kids, embark on a 1000-mile road trip in an old camper van deep into the Amazon jungle, where they used to live, hoping it will provide them with answers about how to live as a family in the modern world.
Seeking to reconnect with their lost paradise removed by technology and the happiness they yearn for, but with the van and their marriage on the verge of breakdown, will they reach their destination before everything falls apart?
STORY OUTLINE…
La Sagrada Familia is an observational film that tells a warm and relatable family story about sacrifices, parenting and relationships in a beautiful location and a culturally fascinating context.
This timely film is about familial conflict and resolution. How do we create and maintain a family unit in modern times when we are so connected yet disconnected. This film proposes the question: how do we find a balance in our lives and relationships in the world of today? These questions are all the more urgent as we emerge from a pandemic lockdown which has faced families with unprecedented challenges.
Borja, the director, found the family first, but their spontaneous decision to take their kids on the road trip of a lifetime gave him a cinematic storyline, with a natural narrative arc, jeopardy, and something tangible at stake.
Carmen and Sergio are artists and modern shamans in Peru. Neither was raised in the traditions of shamanism – both grew up in ordinary families but discovered a talent and instinct for the Ayahuasca plant, exploring its properties and using it to help others. They spent several years living isolated in the Amazon rainforest with their young children to connect with nature and experiment with this ancestral knowledge.
After some time, the family returned to the city, intending to share what they learned with local communities. However, now faced with a very different way of life from the one they’ve known, fissures appear. The three children adapt differently. Sixteen-year-old Valentin is now addicted to Netflix and Fortnite. Thirteen-year-old Antu is increasingly obsessed with his phone, and 10-year-old Lua believes she is a witch.
Rifts are deep, and divisions grow between the couple, both in their shamanic work and marriage. Sergio is concerned about the commercialization of Carmen’s practice. He believes the increased frequency of Ayahuasca ceremonies, which Carmen now runs for tourists, is negatively impacting their children. Particularly at risk is the youngest child Lua, haunted by persistent nightmares and messages from the spirit world. But Carmen is refusing to reduce her workload. She feels the familial financial burden on her shoulders as Sergio has chosen to dedicate his time purely to his art and comes and goes as he pleases.
In an effort to bring balance into the family and renew the commitment in their marriage, Carmen and Sergio decide to take their children on a road trip back to where they used to live in the Amazon.
“TAKING AYAHUASCA IS LIKE JUMPING IN LIFE, YOU CAN SAVE STEPS BUT YOU CAN’T LIVE BY ONLY JUMPING.”
SERGIO REY SUN-HAN
WE FOLLOW THEM INTIMATELY AS THEY VISIT FAMILY MEMBERS, STOP AT IMPORTANT HISTORICAL SHAMANIC SITES, MAKE OFFERINGS TO THE PACHAMAMA (MOTHER EARTH), PERFORM RITUALS, AND EVEN PAUSE FOR A DIP IN A POOL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PERUVIAN DESERT.
We have two previously separated parents willing to forget the past and sacrifice parts of themselves to make their family work. They and their three children each hope to varying degrees that their family comes back together. This volatile emotional situation combined with the use of alternative medicines brews a perfect story about love, conflictabout soul searching, growth and resolution.
“THE AMAZON TALKS TO ME ABOUT LOVE, ABOUT DREAMS. IT IS THAT MYSTERY OF WHAT LIFE AND DEATH ARE, ALWAYS LIVING TOGETHER.”
CARMEN ROSA SANTILLAN
DIRECTORS STATEMENT…
I AM A SOUL SEARCHER AND I WENT TO PERU LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. I MET THIS FAMILY, WHO TOOK ME WITH THEM ON A PERSONAL JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY AND SHOWED ME SOME OF THE ANSWERS AS I WAS MAKING THIS FILM. LIFE IS A ROAD MOVIE!
My vision is to take audiences on a visual and emotional journey, challenged by this family’s intimate exploration of life. The film will offer multiple perspectives on reality, from bird’s eye view to extreme close-up, reflecting the diversity of consciousness at the heart of the film’s themes. That diversity is also expressed in Peru’s breathtaking landscapes, from deserts and mountains to the Amazon rainforest. Shot from within the cramped intimacy of the camper van, the film will make viewers feel that they are on this journey with the family. In essence, it will be like a subtle ceremony itself, where the soundscapes and music will blend with the visual cinematic experience inviting the audience to encounter places, situations, and feelings both remote and familiar.
Lastly, this film is about visibility. We are bringing the story of an underrepresented community to the larger mainstream: a unique family, yet one much like our own. We are contradictory beings and this film will explore this human condition with lots of humour.
“I LIKE TO DESCRIBE IT AS
LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE
MEETS THE MOSQUITO COAST.”
BORJA ALCALDE
“WE ARE EDUCATED TO BE AFRAID OF NATURE, AFRAID TO BE OURSELVES.”
CARMEN ROSA SANTILLAN
APPEAL TO AUDIENCES
La Sagrada Familia explores and expresses a perspective on life which Western or First World documentaries are rarely privileged to access. It shakes free of all the usual touristic stereotypes about shamanic practices and Peruvian culture, to show us the world as Sergio and Carmen see it. But the film is also a relatable drama about a family grappling with the same sort of challenges faced by families all over the world, in many different cultures, to balance their traditional beliefs and values with the demands of smartphones, social media and digital technology. Our film is appealing and urgently relevant to audiences worldwide, especially as we emerge from a global pandemic.
The film aims for global theatrical, TV, and online audiences, with a particular focus on those with interests in New Age philosophy, soul searching, and lifestyles. There is an extensive global community of people curious about the therapeutic benefit of ayahuasca and other natural psychedelics. Moreover, through deconstructing the traditional concept of family, La Sagrada Familia finds a unique angle from which to unpick the challenges facing everyone, everywhere, to balance the universal human yearning for contact with each other and the natural world; appealing this way to a much wider audience than those interested in plant medicine.
SOCIAL IMPACT
Our production company, Yanantin World, is a collective of independent, alternative and community-minded filmmakers which seek to showcase the diverse communities around the world, transcending social barriers and creating bonds among people from different cultural backgrounds so we can reflect on ourselves and keep growing together.
The idea of this film germinated when Borja, director and producer, spent some time travelling and living next to indigenous communities in the Sacred Valley in Peru, which is home to 51 indigenous communities. From the high Andes to the jungles of the Peruvian Amazon, there are many endangered communities who are losing their identity and being forced to move to urban areas where they find it difficult to integrate.
In line with our commitment to showcase and protect the diversity of these indigenous communities, we will donate 5% of the profits from the film to the Kusi Kawsay Association. For the last 20 years, this association has worked on a crucial mission to honor, cultivate and celebrate the ancient wisdom of Andean Indigenous communities through education, agriculture and cultural activities rooted in reciprocity, respect, love and social justice, serving as a model which encourages global awareness that respects cultural and ecological diversity.
We invite you to embark on this journey that transcends the film’s vital story and unique cinematic value to protect human and natural biodiversity that is now in a very serious state of crisis.
WHY TELL THIS STORY?
This is a unique but strangely familiar and relatable story of two people struggling to be good parents and uphold their values in the face of technological challenges and as a family trying to discover their place in an uncertain world.
It is believed to be one of the first films in the world which provides a real, everyday look behind the scenes at the life of modern shamans who administer the potent hallucinogenic plant ayahuasca.
The culture may feel far removed but you as the viewer will find many elements universal, shared and true across all lands.
SUMMARY
Title: La Sagrada Familia
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 90 minutes
Language: Spanish with English subs
Shooting locations: Peru
Release date: Autumn 2021
CREW
Director / Producer: Borja Alcalde Rubio
Exec. Producer: Adam Dawtrey
Editor: Colin Monie
Original Soundtrack: Juana Molina
