THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA
(El Viento del Ayahuasca)
Dir. Nora de Izcue, 1983
Perú. 88 mins.
In Spanish and Quechua with English subtitles.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6 – 10 PM
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 10 – 5 PM
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15 – 10 PM
Nora de Izcue’s political filmmaking over the last fifty years has made her one of Perú’s most significant filmmakers. Through her involvement with the New Latin American Cinema Foundation and the International School of Film and TV in Cuba, De Izcue has “played an integral role in supporting films and filmmakers in Latin America and beyond,” in the words of film scholar Christine Mladic Janney. Her land reform documentary RUNAN CAYCU (WE ARE THE PEOPLE) is considered a landmark work of Latin American ‘70s filmmaking. Filmed in Quechua and employing a similar visual language to the work of Santiago Álvarez, RUNAN CAYCU remains a powerful document of labor-organization in Perú. De Izcue has continued making insightful documentaries about her nation’s racial, class, and gender disparities, while also balancing projects inspired by magical realist author Gabriel García Marquéz. Her feature fiction debut THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA combines her political perspective with her interest in regional myths.
Made in 1983, THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA was the first Peruvian feature directed by a woman. It is also considered one of the first films to depict ayahuasca use in an authentic fashion. The film’s more fantastical elements –– chiefly the representation of mythical water people named Yacurunas –– fit squarely within its reality, one that is never stable and always revealing more than initially meets the eye. Neatly balancing anthropological footage with more dream-like sequences of drug use, THE WIND OF AYAHUASCA represents a singular creative feat in the history of Peruvian cinema.
We’re proud to host the New York premiere of this landmark film. As an accompaniment, we will be showing Nora de Izcue’s newly translated short film CANCIÓN AL VIEJO FISGA QUE ACECHA EN LOS LAGOS AMAZÓNICOS (SONG TO THE OLD FISH THAT LURKS IN THE AMAZONIAN LAKES) before each screening.
Special thanks to George Schmalz at Kino Lorber, Karoline Pelikan, Nora de Izcue and Steve Macfarlane.