Mama Irene – Healer of the Andes

It is a film about Mama Irene, a remarkable 84-year-old female shaman from Peru who draws on indigenous knowledge and traditions in danger of being lost forever. Yet her craft is based primarily on her own intuition: "The spirits have told me in my dreams how to proceed."

The documentary follows Mama Irene in her daily life, uncovering her healing methods and passion to serve every patient who knocks on her door: from local women who travel for hours or days on foot through the Andes. In India, a medical doctor was looking for a cure for a disease that Western medicine had failed to help.

We accompany Mama Irene on ancient spiritual celebrations such as the Snow Star Festival, where thousands of pilgrims gather in the high Cincarra Valley in the Peruvian Andes to honor the local glacier and Lord Queluritji. The film depicts the secret healing practices of Mama Irene, which had never been filmed before. Yet the film is not only an important document of endangered wisdom; It is also a story of women empowerment.

As the film progresses, we learn about Mama Irene's personal journey. She discovered her healing gift by chance at the age of three, when she instinctively cured a neighbor's migraine by rubbing her own salvia on her forehead. She became known in the village as El Doctor Pequeno - the little doctor. He was sold into slavery by his father; beaten up by her husband, who was determined to cast her in the role of the maidservant; gave birth to 15 children, of whom eight died; The male tolerated hatred and rivalry from the shaman.

Yet Mama Irene was never behind in pursuing her craft. She believed in herself and the gifts she was born with. It is the story of a woman who overcomes tremendous trauma and obstacles, and continues to grow and inspire at the age of 84.