The Legacy of Antonio Lorenzano

Antonio Lorenzano was an acclaimed musician shamanic healer and craftsman and the leader of the Warao community of Morichito on the Winikina River in the lower Orinoco Delta Venezuela The film follows anthropologist Dieter Heinen who knew Lorenzano well as he returns to Winikina some six months after Lorenzanos death in November 1996 to pay his respect to his relatives From the testimonies of his children grandchildren and others who knew him it becomes clear that even postmortem Lorenzanos view about the proper conduct of Warao cultural practices carry great weight However the cultural tradition that Lorenzano represented was a hybrid a fusion of the old with new ideas and practices which he introduced from outside his community