The Legacy of Antonio Lorenzano

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Overview

Antonio Lorenzano was an acclaimed musician, shamanic healer and craftsman, and the leader of the Warao community of Morichito on the Winikina River, in the lower Orinoco Delta, Venezuela. The film follows anthropologist Dieter Heinen, who knew Lorenzano well, as he returns to Winikina, some six months after Lorenzano's death in November 1996 to pay his respect to his relatives. From the testimonies of his children, grandchildren and others who knew him, it becomes clear that even post-mortem, Lorenzano's view about the proper conduct of Warao cultural practices carry great weight. However the cultural tradition that Lorenzano represented was a hybrid, a fusion of the old with new ideas and practices which he introduced from outside his community.