Embrace of the Serpent

The 2016 Oscar race for Best Foreign Language Film has already brought a handful of historical firsts for Latin America, with a number of new countries submitting their cinematic best for the Academy’s consideration. But as of today the historical weight of the 88th Academy Awards for Latin America is even greater: the Academy has announced Colombia’s El abrazo de la serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent) as the first ever foreign language nomination for the South American cultural powerhouse. Past Colombian nominees include Catalina Sandino Moreno for Best Actress in the drug smuggling drama Maria Full of Grace and director Isabel Vega for her short documentary La Corona.Based on actual travelogues, El abrazo de la serpiente tells the semi-fictionalized story of two scientists and explorers – one North American, the other German – who penetrate deep into the heart of the Amazon, where they meet a solitary indigenous man who claims to be the last of his tribe. There they come face to face with the destructive forces of European colonization both on the local ecosystem and on Amazonian indigenous societies. The indignation of the very sad effect and environmental consequences of the white man’s presence in the Amazon.

Powerful, mesmerising, thought-provoker, beautiful, splendid, deeply moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS73P3hZvPA