El Río

El Río is a feature-length documentary where the daily life and stories of Amazonian peoples become cautionary tales in our Anthropocene era. El Río contributes to intersecting fields of anthropology and environmental humanities for our understanding of the perspectives of indigenous cultures and the life of water ecosystems under threat. It gives credence to the importance of ecological knowledge and belief systems for the entangled natural and human histories of Amazonia.

  • Juan Carlos Galeano
    Director
    The Trees Have a Mother (2008)
  • Juan Carlos Galeano
    Writer
    The Trees Have a Mother (2008), Folktales of The Amazon (2008), Amazonia (2012), Yakumama and Other Mythological Beings (2014)
  • Juan Carlos Galeano
    Producer
    The Trees Have a Mother (2008)
  • Amy Sanderson
    Producer
    Bury The Hatchet (2010)
  • Leoncio Ramírez Vásquez
    Producer
  • Rafael Chanchari (Shaman and Philosopher, Shawi Nation, Amazon Basin)
    Key Cast
  • Carlos Odría
    Original Music / Film Score
  • Vera Coleman
    English Translation / Subtitles
  • Alejandra Gutiérrez
    Narration
  • Leoncio Ramírez Vásquez
    Cinematography
  • Leoncio Ramírez Vásquez
    Editor
  • Andrew Kocur
    Trailer
  • Callaghan Keane
    Production Assistant
  • Malcolm Shackelford
    Production Assistant
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Environmental, Ethnographic, Water, Indigenous, Amazon
  • Runtime:
    58 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 15, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Peru
  • Language:
    Spanish
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital HD
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Contact Juan Carlos Galeano
Director Biography - Juan Carlos Galeano

Juan Carlos Galeano is an Amazonian poet, documentary filmmaker, and essayist whose fieldwork on symbolic narratives of riverine and forest people in the Amazon basin resulted in his production of a comprehensive collection of storytelling (Folktales of the Amazon, ABC-CLIO, 2008). As a filmmaker he made a plea for environmental justice, threatened landscapes and cultures of Amazonia in his documentary, The Trees Have a Mother (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, 2008). He has published several books of poetry and has translated the works of North American poets into Spanish. His poetry inspired by Amazonian cosmologies and the modern world are anthologized and published in international journals such Casa de las Américas (Cuba), The Atlantic Monthly and Ploughshares (U.S.). He teaches Latin American poetry and Amazonian Cultures at Florida State University and is currently the director of the FSU Service/Learning Program: Journey into Amazonia in Perú.

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