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About The Film
Five hundred years after the European conquest of Mexico, the institution of the curandero, or healer, continues to survive among the indigenous Maya of the Yucatan peninsula. In fact, many indigenous Mexicans have immigrated to the United States and brought their beliefs about health care with them.
The curanderos are older, respected members of Mayan society, experienced herbalists, and community leaders. They have integrated many features of Western society into their world: Christianity is an integral part of their practice, and many of them accept a role for Western medicine. Their world is vibrant, ancient and colorful, but fast disappearing.
Healers of the Maya is a documentary that takes the audience inside a community that most of the Western world believes to have vanished a millennium ago. Featuring beautifully shot footage of healing ceremonies, and interviews with the healers and their patients in the Mayan language, 'Healers of the Maya' is a compelling, unique film.
This film is about their miraculous, but tenuous survival, and the lessons they still have to teach us.
