Thinking like a Mountain
Alexander Hick
The Arhuacos are the guardians of the forest and the ice of Colombias highest mountain- the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. While on the surface this ancient culture appears not to have changed in centuries, Thinking Like a Mountain reveals a much more complex reality.
The Arhuacos draw from this unique environment a sustained and singular spirituality.
For the first time in their history the Arhuacos invited a filmmaker, Alex Hick, to visit the most remote communities and sacred sites in the heartland of their territory. „Thinking like a Mountain“ tells the story of resistance and preservation of nature, which is a voyage through space and time: from the shores of the Caribbean to the stars that light up the night on the glacier; from the Arhuacos encounter with the first colonising whites, to the homecoming of an Arhuaco guerrillero following the laying-down of arms by the FARC.
While on the surface the Arhuaco culture appears not to have changed in centuries, this film reveals quite the opposite. The cosmogony specific to this territory and its people has been preserved due to the self imposed isolationism of the Arhuacos, but a solemn history of violence is progressively drawn out through the film brought on by the changing political and spiritual landscape. In a thought provoking and pointed manner the film explores the colliding of two cultures and portraits indigenous life in the 21th century where isolationism seems to vanish, just like the glacier held sacred by its people.
Trailer
Protagonist
Jwikamey Torres, José de la Cruz Torres, Mamo Bernandino Suarez, Norma Suarez, Tobía Chaparro, Rogelio Mejía Izquierdo, Margarita Villafañe, Nawingumu and family, Joel Norena Serna, Mercedes Torres, Mamo Efraín Torres, Cornelio Suarez, Bunkey Torres, Alfonso Suarez
Crew & Production
Written and directed: Alexander Hick
Director of Photography: Immanuel Hick
Editing: Julian Sarmiento
Original music score: Christian Castagno and Nacho Drault
Producer: Anna Lozano, Alexander Hick
Consulting Producer: Maxim Holland, Gunter Hanfgarn
A Flipping the coin Films Production
Funding and support
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
Freunde der HFF München
Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film
Flipping the coin Films
Website
http://www.thinkinglikeamountain.org
Awards
Human Rights Film Award Germany, 2018
Special Mention of the Jury, International Filmfestival Vienna 2019
Festival participation
Visions du reel, 2018, Switzerland, 2018, International Competition
Cervino Cinemountain Festival, 2018, Italy, International Competition
Human Rights Filmfestival Inconvenient Films, 2018, Lithania, International Competition
Astra Filmfestival, 2018, Rumania, International Competition
Nominee First Step Award, 2018, Best Documentary
Mountainfilmfestival Graz, 2018, Austria, International Competition
Autrans International Filmfestival, 2018, France, International Competition
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis, 2019, Germany, Feature Documentary Competition
Festival Internacional de Cine Cartagena de Indias, 2019, Colombia,
Ethnocineca Filfestival, Austria, 2019, Nominee Excellence in Visual Anthropology Award
Royal Anthropological Institute Filmfestival, 2019, UK
Muestra de cine de derechos humanos, 2019, Guatemala
Encuentros del otro cine, 2019, Ecuador
Festival of Transcultural Cinema, 2019, Germany
Dokfest Munich, Nominated for the documentary talent award, 2019, Germany
Festival Présence autochtone 2019, Canada
Le Grand Bivouac – Documentary Film and Book Festival 2019, France
