AMAZON
Follow the Amazon River on a 4,000 mile journey from its source in the high Andes, through the rainforest, and into the majestic Amazon basin. Meet an exotic menagerie of animals, including the jaguar, tapir, pipa toad and sloth. Become part of a “you-are-there” experience with several water creatures, including pink dolphins, electric eels, piranhas and pirarucus—fish that can attain a length of 15 feet and a weight of 500 pounds.
In addition to being a journey of natural discovery, AMAZON is the captivating story of two “medicine men,” from vastly different worlds, who share a common quest. Join an American scientist and a native medicine man on their parallel pursuit to find healing plants. Dr. Mark Plotkin is an ethnobotanist, a scientist who studies cultures and plants. As Plotkin travels upriver, a fictional shaman named Julio Mamani descends from the Andes. Both the scientist and the traditional Indian shaman contribute to finding medicinal plants that may yield cures for disease. “There may be a remedy for every ailment known to man right here,” says Plotkin in the film. “Some argue that the treasure of the rain forest is the plants, but the key to that treasure is the knowledge of the people.” Dr. Mark Plotkin is the founder of the Amazon Conservation Team, a successful conservation model in the Amazon rainforest dedicated to biocultural conservation.
