In 1909 Colombia German folklorist Theodore starts a journey with Amazonian shaman Karamakate in an attempt to find a sacred healing plant called the Yakruna. Meanwhile, in the 1940s in the same area, American botanist Richard also hires Karamakate to find the Yakruna. Differing languages, traditions and cultures between the white men and the natives, lead to misunderstanding and sometimes violence. The third feature by Ciro Guerra, following The Wind Journeys, which screened at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2009, Embrace of the Serpent was inspired by the journals of Theodore Koch-Grunberg and Richard Evans Schultes. Two stories in two different times run parallel. And in this unique narrative structure, a white traveler and an Amazonian Shaman’s encounter brings continuous tension caused by their differences and uncovers the violent nature of European colonialism. Shot in black and white, the natural scenery of the Amazon is brought closer, as the bare face of colonization—when a net of human nature and power expose themselves without glorification. (Jin PARK)