Doha Film Institute
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After a lifetime of hardship, 75-year-old Indigenous artist Sara Flores emerges from the Peruvian Amazon into the global art world, transforming her work into a force for Shipibo resistance.
Sara Flores is an Indigenous painter from the Peruvian Amazon, one of the last practitioners of the visionary art of kené: a sophisticated design system of the Shipibo people, rooted in reciprocity and ancestral knowledge. After a lifetime without recognition, Sara, now in her seventies, is suddenly sought after in the global contemporary art world, becoming the first Shipibo artist to exhibit internationally. The film follows Sara over two years as invitations from galleries, institutions and luxury brands multiply, upending her life. The rising value of her work transforms her family’s circumstances but also brings new pressures and tensions within her community. Moving between the Amazon and cities including Miami, New York and London, she struggles to reconcile her values with the excesses of the global art market, leading to a growing sense of dislocation. Upon returning home, Sara’s body begins to fail. As medical uncertainty gives way to spiritual interpretations, her condition becomes intertwined with deeper questions of imbalance within herself, her community and the land. A return to her territory, now marked by environmental destruction, sparks a political awakening. Sara begins to transform her practice into a tool for resistance, creating a new body of work that asserts the cultural survival and sovereignty of the Shipibo Nation.

Credits

Director
Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi
Screenwriter
Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi
Producer
Matteo Norzi, Èlia Gasull Balada, Maria Altamirano
Production Company
Shipibo Conibo Center

About the Director

Matteo Norzi
Matteo Norzi is an artist, writer, filmmaker and Indigenous rights activist, born in Italy and based in New York. His acclaimed directorial debut, the feature film ‘Icaros: A Vision’, marked his first major collaboration with the Shipibo people and premiered in competition at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. With years of first-hand experience and in-depth research on Amazonian cultures, he is the
Èlia Gasull Balada
Èlia Gasull Balada is a NAACP Image Award-nominated filmmaker. In 2021, she was listed in the DOC NYC 40 Under 40, and in 2023 she was selected for Berlinale Talents. Èlia has worked extensively as an editor and writer for documentaries and narrative films. Her most recent credits include ‘The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks’ (Tribeca 2022), which won a Peabody Award and a Gracie Award, and rec
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