JIVAROS, THE SHRUNKEN HEAD

Among the Amazonian tribes, the Jivaros have fascinated western explorers, who used to call them the head cutters because of the Tsanta ritual. The film starts when in Decembre 1999, such a shrunken head from an English missionary, is sold at an auction sale in Paris. The last case of this ritual dates back to 1968, and yet the western fantasy about this warrior ritual has remained intact despite the dramatic changes in the Jivaro community, who call themselves Shuar now, to avoid the dark reputation linked to the Spanish Jivaros denomination.

With the help of the Shuar community we will try and find out the menaçant of this ritual of the past and will also explore other features of this community nowadays.

Available : 60' & 66'