Kari, an Embera girl, is afraid to laugh. One day she meets the young mestiza woman Kera, who tells her the legend of Kiraparamia: a woman who, according to the elders, was punished by the gods for laughing at her husband. But Kera reinterprets the story: she is convinced that, in reality, Kiraparamia’s laughter set her free. This greatly inspires little Kari, who decides to use laughter to stand up to the children who bully her and her friends.

The researcher, director and producer of audiovisual content, including the Ijaraburu-podcast, belongs to the Embera Chamí in Columbia. She has received a number of grants designed to strengthen the cultural projects of Indigenous peoples from the Carolina Foundation, the University of Salamanca and Cultura Survival.

The short film has a mixed media experimental approach about breathing and Earth’s atmosphere and the story of our deep interdependence with the living world. Through our breath we are intimately linked to those who lived in the deep past and in the future. We live through fraught times and recovering a deep sense of connection with the living planet is crucial. Our short film celebrates our shared interest in stories with the more-than-human world as protagonist, and how these stories can shape a culture of humility in the Anthropocene. Both collaborators have developed their practice within filmmaking, animation, virtual and augmented reality.