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The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs

Play trailer Poster for The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs 2026 1h 28m Documentary Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
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Sara Flores, a visionary practitioner of kené--the design system of the Shipibo People--spent a lifetime with little recognition before finding herself, in her seventies, suddenly embraced by the global contemporary art world. As gallery invitations, a Dior collaboration, and international travel transform her family's fortunes, Sara struggles to reconcile her simple lifeway with the excesses of the West. When her body begins to fail, medical tests offer no clear answers, and an ayahuasca ceremony reveals a spiritual cause tied to both the evil eye of a neighbor and the Amazon's environmental crisis. On the day of her 75th birthday, Sara opens up in a stream of thought to her pet monkey, expressing a new awareness of her mortality. It's a political awakening that leads her to join a group of young land defenders fighting to reclaim Shipibo ancestral territory. After a trip to the United Nations in New York alongside the group's leader, Sara comes up with an idea on how to turn her art into activism. She decides to use the commission for her first museum exhibition in Lima to address the Peruvian state and begin a new body of work centered on the dream of Indigenous sovereignty: a flag for her Indigenous Nation.

Cast & Crew

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Èlia Gasull Balada

Director

Matteo Norzi

Director

Sara Flores

Self

Èlia Gasull Balada

Screenwriter

Matteo Norzi

Screenwriter

Èlia Gasull Balada

Producer
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The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs

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Movie Info

Synopsis Sara Flores, a visionary practitioner of kené--the design system of the Shipibo People--spent a lifetime with little recognition before finding herself, in her seventies, suddenly embraced by the global contemporary art world. As gallery invitations, a Dior collaboration, and international travel transform her family's fortunes, Sara struggles to reconcile her simple lifeway with the excesses of the West. When her body begins to fail, medical tests offer no clear answers, and an ayahuasca ceremony reveals a spiritual cause tied to both the evil eye of a neighbor and the Amazon's environmental crisis. On the day of her 75th birthday, Sara opens up in a stream of thought to her pet monkey, expressing a new awareness of her mortality. It's a political awakening that leads her to join a group of young land defenders fighting to reclaim Shipibo ancestral territory. After a trip to the United Nations in New York alongside the group's leader, Sara comes up with an idea on how to turn her art into activism. She decides to use the commission for her first museum exhibition in Lima to address the Peruvian state and begin a new body of work centered on the dream of Indigenous sovereignty: a flag for her Indigenous Nation.
Director
Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi
Producer
Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi, Maria Altamirano
Screenwriter
Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi
Production Co
Shipibo Conibo Center
Genre
Documentary, Biography
Original Language
Spanish
Runtime
1h 28m
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