Share
Loading Events
  • This event has passed.

Monday 01st May 2017

Embrace of the Serpent

Free (No ticket required - First come first served)
8:00PM (Doors open 7:15PM)
INDOOR: The Lido Café

A winner at Cannes and a nominee for the 2015 Best Foreign Language Oscar (Colombia’s first ever Oscar nomination), Embrace of the Serpent tells two tales – separated by more than 30 years – of European scientists searching for the yakruna, a mystical and fictional flower. Join us at The Lido Café, one of our favourite venues, on 1 May at 8pm for Ciro Guerra’s dreamlike journey to the Amazon.

EmbraceIn one sense Embrace of the Serpent is a drama about the effect of European colonialisation on the Amazon but in another it is an attempt by Colombian director Ciro Guerra to build a bridge between western and Amazonian storytelling. Shot on location in the Colombian jungle over 8 weeks the film tells two stories of European explorers searching for a fictional flower, set more than 30 years apart. Based on the journals of two real-life explorers, the film weaves these stories around a shamen called Karamakate who is the last surviving member of the Cohiuano tribe. An old and a young Karamakate puts the Europeans’ materialism and vanity into perspective but in this 2hr visual indulgence these characters also offer an indigenous viewpoint to the terror and violence of the colonial era.

With breath-taking cinematography and a soundtrack that blends indigenous song with contemporary instrumentation this is a film you can’t miss. The Guardian called it an “extraordinary, hypnotic work” and we were certainly extraordinarily hypnotised when we saw it during its too-narrow UK release in 2016. If you want to see for yourself, and we recommend that you do, join us at The Lido Café on 1 May at 8pm!

Click here to see the trailer.

Other

Director
Ciro Guerra
Certificate
12A
Running Time
125 mins
Year
2015
Country
Colombia
The Lido Café
Brockwell Lido, Brockwell Park , Herne Hill, SE24 0PA

All Events

Calendar List Images
overlay
07th May 2025

Hundreds of Beavers

overlay
08th May 2025

Getting It back: The Story of Cymande + Q&A

Off the Cuff Bar – Herne Hill
8:00PM
overlay
10th May 2025

Shaun of the Dead

Brockwell Lido – Herne Hill
8:45PM
overlay
12th May 2025

Short Film Night + Filmmakers’ Intros

Prince Regent Pub
8:00PM
overlay
14th May 2025

We Live in Time

Herne Hill Baptist Church
8:00PM
overlay
15th May 2025

The Outrun

Coldharbour Blue
8:00PM
overlay
16th May 2025

People’s Film Choice: Stand by me or Galaxy Quest or Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind

Herne Hill Velodrome
8:45PM
overlay
17th May 2025

The Wild Robot

Herne Hill Station Hall
4:00PM
overlay
20th May 2025

My Kind Of Black: A Night of Short Films by Young Black Londoners + Q&A

198 Contemporary Arts and Learning
8:00PM
overlay
21st May 2025

Love Lies Bleeding

Bird House Brewery
8:00PM
overlay
22nd May 2025

Cycling Shorts

Herne Hill Velodrome
8:00PM
overlay
23rd May 2025

Phantom of the Open

Edward Alleyn Club
8:45PM
overlay
07th May 2025

Hundreds of Beavers

May 7 @ 8:30 pm
Brockwell Hall

Paying homage to Hollywood’s silent era and the golden age of animation, this slapstick epic sees a down-on-his-luck applejack distiller forced to become North America’s…

overlay
08th May 2025

Getting It back: The Story of Cymande + Q&A

May 8 @ 8:00 pm
Off the Cuff Bar – Herne Hill

Listening to 6 Music one day, it was surprising to learn that a band named Cymande, formed just down the road in Brixton in the…

overlay
10th May 2025

Shaun of the Dead

May 10 @ 8:45 pm
Brockwell Lido – Herne Hill

  Shaun of the Dead has, over the last 21 years, become a classic zombie comedy, with pints, Queen, blink-and-you’ll-miss-em cameos, memorable lines and a weaponised…

overlay
12th May 2025

Short Film Night + Filmmakers’ Intros

May 12 @ 8:00 pm
Prince Regent Pub

  We think this will be our 11th Short Film Night at the Herne Hill Free Film Festival (sorry for not being entirely sure, it’s…

overlay
14th May 2025

We Live in Time

May 14 @ 8:00 pm
Herne Hill Baptist Church

We Live in Time, starring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield, explores how the fleeting moments of our lives weave together to shape our identities and…

overlay
15th May 2025

The Outrun

May 15 @ 8:00 pm
Coldharbour Blue

  The Outrun is a compelling drama that follows Rona, portrayed by Saoirse Ronan, as she returns to Scotland’s Orkney Islands after battling alcoholism in…

overlay
16th May 2025

People’s Film Choice: Stand by me or Galaxy Quest or Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind

May 16 @ 8:45 pm
Herne Hill Velodrome

With so many great films to choose from, we just couldn’t decide, and so it’s over to you!  Please help us select this year’s outdoor…

overlay
17th May 2025

The Wild Robot

May 17 @ 4:00 pm
Herne Hill Station Hall

  The Wild Robot is a film for all the family that is as thoughtful as it is entertaining. The story follows Roz, an intelligent…

overlay
20th May 2025

My Kind Of Black: A Night of Short Films by Young Black Londoners + Q&A

May 20 @ 8:00 pm
198 Contemporary Arts and Learning

  Join us at one of our new screening venues, 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning gallery for an evening of short films showcasing the voices…

overlay
21st May 2025

Love Lies Bleeding

May 21 @ 8:00 pm
Bird House Brewery

  Love Lies Bleeding is a neon-soaked, adrenaline-fueled thriller that dives headfirst into passion, crime, and obsession. When reclusive gym manager Lou (Kristen Stewart) falls…

overlay
22nd May 2025

Cycling Shorts

May 22 @ 8:00 pm
Herne Hill Velodrome

Now in its third year, the ever popular Cycling Shorts returns to the historic Herne Hill Velodrome. (That’s short films about cycling of course!)  Expect…

overlay
23rd May 2025

Phantom of the Open

May 23 @ 8:45 pm
Edward Alleyn Club

  Our local hero Mark Rylance stars in this amiably daft film The Phantom of the Open about real-life golfing eccentric Maurice Flitcroft, who gatecrashed…