by Annual Program Without Frontiers
February 23, 2011

from Vimeo Website

Director: Donia Mili
Producer: Joe Marra, Donia Mili
Writer: Donia Mili, Joe Marra
Genre: Documentary feature
Country: Ecuador/USA
Leading Actress: Donia Mili
Photography: Kathleen Prevost
Editing: Donia Mili

Synopsis of the Film

I plunged myself - heart, body and soul - into the Amazon jungle I feared so much.

I drank with the shamans as much of their sacred beverage, ayahuasca, as I could get my hands on... trying to reach my subconscious, trying to understand the Universe, trying to heal myself.

DESPERATELY trying to forget the corruption, the greed, the swarms of stinging, biting insects, the avalanches, and rattletrap, smoky buses. Not to mention the kidnapping.

Kakaram combines the stunning images of the rainforest with humorous animated sequences and interviews with best-selling author John Perkins, internationally acclaimed painter and healer Pablo Amaringo, as well as a host of shamans, healers, derelicts and anyone else who would stand in front of the microphone.

From the streets of Quito to the jungle trails of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the movie follows the film-maker in her quixotic quest to find "untouched" indigenous communities.

Kakaram chronicles both her inner and outer journeys as her original vision and plans evolve in surprising and fascinating ways.