Mama Irene - Healer of the Andes (2022)

This is a film about Mama Irene, a remarkable 84-year-old woman Shaman (healer) from Peru, drawing upon indigenous knowledge and traditions in danger of being lost forever. Yet her craft is based primarily on her own intuition: "Spirits have told me in my dreams how to proceed." The documentary follows Mama Irene in her everyday life, highlighting her healing methods and passion to serve each patient who knocks on her door: from local women who travel hours or days by foot through the Andes to a medical doctor from India seeking a cure for the illness that Western Medicine had failed to help. We accompany Mama Irene on ancient spiritual ceremonies such as the Snow Star Festival, where thousands of pilgrims gather in Sinakara Valley high in the Peruvian Andes to honor the local glacier. The film depicts Mama Irene's secret healing practices, never before filmed. Yet this film is not only a vital document of endangered wisdom; it is also a story about Woman empowerment.