Moisés grew up in the border region between Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. Until the age of five he knew nothing but the traditional way of life of his people — steering a canoe, catching fish with spears, avoiding caimans, water snakes, venomous spiders. His world was steeped in magic. The men of his family stood in a millennia-old shamanic tradition.

Then came the shock: violent gold prospectors invaded their territory. The entire village had to move. The five-year-old Moisés was hastily initiated. His memories are fragmentary: beaten, forced to inhale tobacco smoke and sniff hallucinogenic substances. The elders whispered their secrets. But he was too young to remember much.

In the city the family settled near a rubbish dump and a factory. As an adolescent Moisés began to feel personally responsible: could he have secured a better life for his people if he had preserved the teachings of the elders?

To this day he lives on the outskirts of that city, disoriented. He has made a decision: go back.

Moisés wants to give his father one last gift: to experience the return of the whole family to their old home. It is a race against time.

Two goals drive Moisés. Rebuild. Reconstruct the shamanic house — an indispensable centre for his people's spiritual practice. Traditional building materials must be brought from distant regions: sturdy aroa vines, aromatic woods, sacred pigments, hidden stones. He cannot do this alone. Time presses, because his old, weakened father should still see the completed house and the initiation ceremony.

Transform. Complete his initiation as a Maliri shaman. The apprentice must traverse the lands of his ancestors using chants as guides, to find hidden rocks, caves, water sources. Many places are dangerous. Others are guarded by shamans from other peoples, some friendly, some hostile.

The film accompanies him on these journeys, both physical and spiritual. As Moisés delves deeper into the forest and simultaneously into his ancestral memory, the film invites viewers to discover the rich cosmology of the Baniwa — a system of knowledge in which plants, animals, rivers and spirits are interconnected.

Together with Moisés we discover what was once passed on in whispered chants and sacred rituals: not only how to heal the sick or survive in the jungle, but how to live in harmony with nature.

Does this ancient knowledge perhaps hold a vision for us all — at a time when our own relationship with nature has been broken?

The film thrives on contrasts, and Giorgio makes them visible: the gap between the majestic river, forest and mountain landscapes of the Amazon and the desolate small town with its concrete, exhaust fumes and rubbish heaps; between the magic of shamanic rituals and the harshness of the struggle for survival. Not as exotic spectacle — but as a struggle for identity and survival.

Giorgio Palmera's images give the film its aesthetic soul: contemplative where Moisés immerses himself in the spiritual world; dynamic where he defends himself against destruction from outside. The camera breathes with the protagonist.

Slow and meditative in moments of spiritual search, nervous and driven in confrontation with the outside world. Its movements mirror Moisés' inner state: tension and relaxation, struggle and contemplation.

Stylised animations — based on drawings made by Moisés and other villagers themselves — make the unseeable visible: childhood memories, inner visions, encounters with spirits of the forest. Indigenous art that blends organically into the cinematic aesthetic.