Product Details

• Actors: Peter Coyote Narrator
• Directors: Steve Ford
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: May 21, 2003
• Run Time: 56 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00009Q7W9
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #484,510 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Shot in the mountain communities of northern Ecuador, Shaman of the Andes explores the fascinating world of the shaman and the Quechua Indians, and examines how indigenous culture contends with the modern world. Viewers are taken on a journey into the ancient world of the shaman with captivating scenes of curing rituals shot inside the shaman’s consultorio. The film explores how ancient mountain gods, Catholicism, globalization, traditional healing and modern medicine are elements in the life of the shaman and the Quechua Indians. Shaman of the Andes is not only the story of a traditional Quechua shaman and his culture, the film is also an exploration of a culture living in the margin between the traditional past and the modern world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A valuable film about curanderismo, November 11, 2006

By 

Rick Forrester "A shaman" (Hoboken, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shaman of the Andes (DVD)

This film is a slice of life picture of an average Bolivian curandero. As the other review mentions, it may not be stunning cinematography, or full of scenes of fascinating rituals. But as a student of the shamanic cultures of this region, I found it had a lot to offer. Among the things I found interesting was the herb identifications, the demonstration of the use of guinea pigs in diagnosis, and the scenes of festival celebrations. While this movie isn't going to knock your socks off, it deserves 4 stars and I hope more film makers will be inspired to produce documentaries like this one.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing!, December 17, 2005

By 

inbreath/outbreath "a reader" (North, on the way north) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shaman of the Andes (DVD)

(if i was to give it another rating it would be 1 star)...bad photoquality, bad quality all the way. if you have serious interest i shamanism steer clear! it could have been cut down to about 15-20 minutes of useful information, but the quality of the pictures is totally crap - amateurish! the shaman in this documentary is fine enough, but doesn`t give the impression of being of the most advanced (not the one you travel half the world to see in person). sympathic and straightforward, honest..but more a traditional curer/curandero. this movie gives nothing to the ones interested in the study of consciousness. very disappointing! made of and for people with little knowledge and interest i shamanism.