Enjoying the journey

Carmen in The Sacred Family. Borja Alcalde: 'Throughout this road trip, Carmen was telling me, “I know I’m going to find what I’m looking for, the answers and I don’t know when.”'

First time documentary feature Borja Alcalde director goes along for a ride, with a family, headed by shamen Carmen and Sergio, goes on a road trip to the Amazon in The Sacred Family (La Sagrada Familia). The resulting film is as much about the journey as it is the destination as the pair and their three children, Valentin, 16, Antu, 13 and 10-year-old Lua attempt to disconnect from technology and reconnect with each other as they head out in their camper van. The film had its world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival earlier this week and we caught up with Alcalde, who is based in Scotland, to chat about the changing shape of the film and the challenges and rewards of sharing the family's journey.

You went and took part in some of Carmen and Sergio's rituals and that's how you encountered them, is that right?

Borja Alcalde: Yes that's exactly how it happened. I was soul-searching in Peru with no camera, with a friend. And that's how, after doing some research in the Amazon, everyone was pointing at Carmen, a shaman in the Sacred Valley of Peru. So we went over there and Carmen wasn't there, she was on her way to the Amazon but Sergio, her partner, was there. So that was the first time I took ayahuasca, with Sergio. I spent some time with their family and fell in love with how they tried to create their own reality around nature and master plants. They have a beautiful family unit. After the first ceremony, I felt I wanted to do something with this family. I asked Sergio and he said, “Okay, let's see what we can do”. I’m a visual artist, so I wasn’t sure of the format yet and I wasn't trying to make a documentary. It was more perhaps the idea, at the beginning, around the abuse and bad use of these type of plants. You know, there is a lot of shamanic tourism. And this type of tourism is affecting people who are doing it properly. It's attracting a lot of charlatans and that is really bad for everyone who's doing it properly.

Carmen and Borja at The Sacred Family world premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival Photo: Lloyd Smith

Sergio agreed to some collaboration but Carmen wasn't there. And so Carmen said, “I don't know this guy. Why I'm going to do anything with him when I don't know who he is?” So six months after the first meeting, I came back. I said, “Okay, let's, you know, let's meet, let's do some together”. This time, I brought a camera and we decided to do a road trip together, not another one you see in The Sacred Family. So when we went to some shamanic places in Peru and that's the way Carmen made sure she could share all the things. After that, we decided that were going make a documentary together, involving, their family. And I’ve been coming for two or three times a year for the past five years, apart from the pandemic, obviously, I had a gap of 12 months.

So initially, you hadn’t decided on the structure the documentary was going to take?

BA: This documentary has been changing from the beginning as we’ve changed – the family, myself. The first approach was what as I told you about, bad use and abuse of master plants and how that would affect a family of shamans that were trying to do their work. However, I had a real connection with the family unit and throughout these different trips, I also realised how technology was affecting this family, as any other family. That's the power of technology, globalisation is just coming into any household anywhere. You have a window into a very unique family, because they're shamans and colourful, and they believe in something different. But also how similar we are, and how technology gets anywhere. They have three teenage kids, who were getting hooked with video games, you know, Netflix and Amazon, and not just the kids. So I saw how that was affecting this family. And unlike other families, their response to this was like, we need to do something about it. We are disconnecting from each other. The couple, you know, the parents, and in between, you know, and the kids. And the response was “Right, let's go back to the Amazon. Let’s try to reconnect with each other and balance, you know, in our lives, and hopefully get some answers about how we can better deal with technology because there's no other way around that”. Technology is here and it’s going to stay and it’s not a bad thing, it’s just how we use it that has consequences.

In terms of the trip itself, how tricky is that for you as a filmmaker because you need to be in the car, yet at the same time you have to disappear as much as you possibly can.

BA: It's not it's not easy. Yeah, I think a few people told me, it seemed like I chose one of the most difficult first feature projects. It's a road movie, it’s in Peru and it’s your first feature in a long format. I think the key element is before this road trip took place I’d been traveling with them, the kids were there, they’d seen me with a camera a lot of times, they were relaxed, you know.

Borja Alcalde: 'By the time we embarked on this road trip, we trusted each other, we respected each other, we were happy with who we were, and I was already part of their family'

So, by the time we embarked on this road trip, we trusted each other, we respected each other, we were happy with who we were, and I was already part of their family. That was a key element to go into, such a small space with a family. From the very beginning we would have these conversations. I said: “We can stop this at any time. It has to be your trip and I’m grateful that you’re allowing me to be part of this experience and film it. But if at any point you want me to stop this and not be here, we have another van.”

Mainly they were actually pretty comfortable with me and I think that's one of the most beautiful things of this film, it is very intimate. You feel like another passenger in that van.

You end the documentary where some documentarians might have thought about starting it. Was that always your intention or do that?

BA: I think the end was tricky. Because we're forgetting to draw a line somewhere. What you see in the film happened on the last day of the shoot. Throughout this road trip, Carmen was telling me, “I know I’m going to find what I’m looking for, the answers and I don’t know when.” And then we're right in the Amazon for the last eight or 10 days in Amazon. And finally, she basically got the answers she was looking for that her life, and her family’s life wouldn't be the same any more.

The use of music in the film was quite crucial can you tell me how you went about that.

BA: The music plays a key part in this film. My background is as a sound engineer and sound designer before I was a filmmaker and so I know how important that is. Colin Monie, our editor, works the same way. We both love Juana Molina’s music. She’s a cult artist from Argentina, who has been making music for 25 years and is very successful. And we both felt her music is very experimental which was perfect. This is her first score for a long feature. I gave her total creative freedom, because I trust what she does? And is this trusting in the process has been working for me. It was a long process, in the beginning it took some time to understand each other, then we really connected. The contrast with what you see is really powerful.

Have the family seen the film?

BA: They have seen the film. I was very nervous. Thankfully, they all approved it. They can see a good representation of that family made with care and love.

What’s next for you. This has been a big part of your life for five years.

I just want to enjoy and be present in this moment. Because last year was really difficult. You know, I was afraid this was going to stay on a hard drive and might not come out. Now it's out here in Scotland. I want to be enjoy it and, hopefully, take it to other festivals.

The Sacred Family screens again at EIFF at 12.45pm on Saturday, August 20 at Filmhouse. For more about the film, visit the official site