Screening: ‘Life on the Napo River’ and conversation with filmmaker Lynn Levin

Date: Thursday, September 20th, 6pm.
Place: Wolf Humanities Center at UPenn (Williams Hall #625)
Event free and open to the Public

Join us for a screening of the video documentary “Life on the Napo River: A Glimpse of the Ecuadoran Amazon, Its People, and Their Traditions” and conversation with film’s director Lynn Levin. This short film presents footage of the rushing Napo River and spellbinding accounts by members of two indigenous groups, who recount key moments of cultural transition and narratives of traditional life. The Napo River is a tributary of the Amazon, and the video includes images of the dense rainforest, monkeys, birds, bats, piranha, other wildlife. Also pictured are scenes from a traditional Quechua/Kichwa community and a river port town, places which capture the intermingling of the old and new. Filmed in 2017, the documentary includes details about head-shrinking, plus stories of missionaries and shamans.

Lynn Levin is poet and writer who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.