At once blistering and poetic, the ravages of colonialism cast a dark shadow over the South American landscape in EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT, the third feature by Ciro Guerra. Filmed in stunning black-and-white, SERPENT centers on Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and the last survivor of his people, and the two scientists who, over the course of 40 years, build a friendship with him. The film was inspired by the real-life journals of two explorers (Theodor Koch-Grünberg and Richard Evans Schultes) who traveled through the Colombian Amazon during the last century in search of the sacred and difficult-to-find psychedelic Yakruna plant. — Production Notes

Special Science on Screen showing
On Tuesday, May 3, at 7 pm, a special screening of EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT featured a talk with neuroscientist Dr. Soonjo Hwang and anthropologist Dr. Timi Barone, moderated by Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska Director Dr. Howard Liu. Presented with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the UNO Department of Sociology & Anthropology. Watch the discussion here.

Science on Screen is made possible through a grant by the Coolidge Corner Theatre, with support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Science on Screen events at Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater fall under the organization’s ongoing Community Development program.