Mothers of the Rainforest

Equator | 77 min | Original Version, French Subtitles

Alongside the next generations of AMUPAKIN, we meet the Kichwa women leaders of Alto Nappo and are graciously taken into their practices of midwifery. Having benefited expecting mothers from within and beyond their community for centuries, these Indigenous women’s knowledges of medicine and shamanism, so often challenged by colonial beliefs, operate preeminently in Mothers of the Rainforest. As a collective effort of resistance from the Amazonian Kichwas, the film is a beautiful statement of identity and the sharing of ritual forms.

The film was directed by Patricia Bermúdez from AMUPAKIN, the Association of Women Midwives Kichwas of Alto Napo, which is dedicated to preserving Indigenous knowledges and traditional practices for maternal and child welfare.