In Iquitos, gateway to the Peruvian Amazon, Nexy (Silvia Chávez) lives on the margins, sometimes as a sex worker, haunted by the memories and folklore of her rural childhood. She meets Miguel (Johnny Palacios) a sociologist visiting from Lima, studying the spiritual traditions and socioeconomic disparities of the region. Miguel encourages Nexy to consult a curandero (Melitón Delgado), who suggests she participate in a healing ceremony. Together, they travel into the jungle, seeking to deepen the healing in a natural environment. When Nexy vanishes, both Miguel and Melitón seek guidance from ayahuasca, and experience profound revelations while in the embrace of the medicine.

In depicting ayahuasca-induced visions, filmmaker Nora de Izcue avoided the American tropes of frantic psychedelic visual effects, and instead depicts the spiritual journeys as a series of elegantly composed tableaus, through which the camera often glides on a waterborne platform. These moments of detachment from the “reality” of the narrative enfold the viewer in poignant and often profound meditative states. Melitón Delgado, who portrays the shaman in the film, was an actual ayahuasquero, and served as technical consultant on the film, with his mother Alicia Vda. de Delgado.

The Wind of Ayahuasca was the first film to offer an authentic and honest depiction of an ayahuasca healing ceremony and the first Peruvian feature by a woman director. It was restored in 2K from an English-subtitled 35mm print in 2018, in cooperation with the Perú Ministry of Culture

For thoughts on The Wind of Ayahuasca, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:

[youtube https://youtu.be/-wxlFGYzfB8?si=OTIM4soCUNemRBFD&t=3336]

Video Quality

The Wind of Ayahuasca comes to Blu-Ray courtesy of Kino Classics in its original 1.85:1 that looks fairly good with some major caveats, but due to the scarcity of the elements we are lucky to have this one in high definition at all. The information accompanying this release states that the film was restored from a decomposing 35mm English-subtitled composite print that had some magic worked on it. The print was scanned in 2K where it was then restored and color-graded in cooperation with the Perú Ministry of Culture. While not ideal, Kino never attempts to mislead you about the inconsistent quality which makes you forgive some of the shortcomings. Most can agree that this was largely forgotten over the years outside of some die-hard cinephiles, but Kino has done everything to give this a proper life.

With expectations in check, most will find the presentation to look quite nice in the majority of the frame. The natural grain is certainly intact and resolved well even in the face of some more chunky or coarse moments. Viewers are treated to a strong amount of detail with nice textures on the clothing and within the environment. Black levels struggle the most in this presentation with some shadowy scenes that struggle somewhat with a milky appearance, crush, and loss of detail. Other moments during the presentation also take a downturn in quality in terms of discoloration and other significant damage that is a common sight. Print damage has been cleaned up as much as possible, but things are still in bad shape. Color temperature can be a bit inconsistent, but not so much as to ruin the experience. Kino Classics should be applauded for making this one look as good as it does.

Audio Quality

This Blu-Ray comes with a DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mono track in the original Spanish with burned-in subtitles that holds up slightly better than the video side of things. The film employs some environmental effects from the weather and insects that secure the appropriate presence within the mix. The film has a fair amount of dialogue with long conversations that hold up with admirable fidelity. This dialogue sounds clear without sound effects drowning out important information. This presentation mostly presents without major damage or other unwanted issues as fidelity rarely falters.

Special Features

Interview with Nora de Izcue: A nearly 30-minute interview with the filmmaker in which she discusses her place as a natural documentarian, how The Wind of Ayahuasca blends documentary elements with fiction, the research that went into her subject, how she captured the ceremonies, the realities of the production, and the film’s legacy, and more.

Theatrical Trailer: The minute-and-a-half-long trailer is provided.

Final Thoughts

The Wind of Ayahuasca is a gentle film that toes the line between documentary and fiction narrative. Much of what you see is accurate to the world, but filmmaker Nora de Izcue takes you on a spiritual journey that will have you questioning what is real. The ambition is not always matched by the viewing experience, as you do get stretches that feel somewhat tedious, but it engages with you more than it doesn’t. Kino Classics has released a Blu-Ray featuring a decent A/V presentation and a couple of special features. This is a film that could have easily been lost to time, so those film fans who are open to a new discovery should take advantage of this minor miracle of preservation. Recommended

The Wind of Ayahuasca is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.