Woven Songs of the Amazon is a documentary film about the ancient Shipibo tradition of song patterns. The Shipibo are one of fourteen indigenous tribes living deep within the Amazon basin of Peru. Throughout history they have recorded their songs, or icaros, in a unique system of elaborate geometric designs that correlate and interact directly with the natural world.

WATCH TRAILER

Very little is known about the connection between the icaros and the patterns that appear on everything from their textiles to their pottery, jewelry, and even body art. Woven Songs of the Amazon tells the story of this rich, colorful and ancient cultural tradition that is rapidly being lost, and the efforts by one family to preserve, protect and keep the vast knowledge of the icaros and the song patterns alive. The film focuses on Herlinda, a Shipibo elder, carrier of the song pattern tradition and the matriarch of her village. Through interviews, demonstrations, personal accounts, Shipibo mythology and beautiful footage of the Peruvian Amazon and the Shipibo people, the film shows the origin of the song patterns, what they are, how they are used, and the Shipibos’ struggle in preserving it and passing it down to the younger generations as the western world continually encroaches, threatening their culture.

DVD will be for sale soon! 

Trailer: 4:34 minutes
Film by: Anna Stevens