SYNOPSIS Leaving the rat race behind, a family embarks on the journey of a lifetime. Together with their three children the couple travels the ends of the earth, searching for a new perspective on life and the world we live in. During their five-year adventure they end up living with different tribal communities on six continents. They record their encounters with tribal sages never filmed or interviewed before. No crew, no schedule, just one backpack and one camera each. And the curiosity to listen. From the banks of Lake Superior in Michigan to the heart of the Amazon, from the Australian outback to the Kalahari Desert, from the Andes to the jungles of India, the family gets access to communities where film crews couldn’t. They meet the most humble yet charismatic people one could ever wish to encounter; unknown individuals who live under the radar of our modern society. Most of them live secluded lives in service of their community, in which they are referred to as medicine people, shamans, healers or wisdom keepers. The film reveals the deep wisdom they find in their conversations with them and its power to transform lives. Having lived in hiding for centuries, the Keepers of the Earth see that now is the time to step forward and share their insights and wisdom with those who are ready to listen.
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INTERVIEW WITH THE FILMMAKERS
For five years you lived with native Americans and other tribal communities all around the world. What made you decide to break away from society? Renata: Everything started to change when we became parents. Putting this new life into the world impacted us more than we expected. Not in terms of the practicalities of parenthood - that was easy. But to feel that you had now become part of a lineage that extends beyond your own lifetime. In a way becoming an integral part of that next generation; it really changed our awareness. It raised so many questions: Why am I doing the things I am doing? What is the real value of my achievements? It’s a matter of purpose I think. It shifted the way in which we felt connected with life and therefore also how we felt increasingly disillusioned with many aspects of our society that are just in the way of that. Being the creative independents we were, we never saw ourselves as products of our society. But taking a closer look we had to admit to ourselves that we had become participants of a system, a system we didn’t really believe in. Was it a parental instinct that woke you up? Rolf: That was definitely a big part of it. But there were multiple processes going on. For me personally, I had come to a stage where I started to see the patterns of the system through my work in corporate boardrooms. The higher I came into the hierarchy of corporations, the more I became disappointed with the leadership I encountered. The lack of vision, the
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lack of understanding the bigger picture, the egotistical games that go on. Not to mention the incredible short term focus. I mean, in many corporations it has become a quarter-to-quarter focus; thinking two years out has become ‘long term thinking’. Imagine how I felt when I met these Native American chiefs who spoke about their responsibility to take decisions that will positively affect seven generations ahead. How difficult was it to leave everything behind? Renata: We have been asked this question many times before, but that was actually the easy part. Adjusting to a life in nature felt completely natural. We experienced a great sense of adventure and freedom to move into the unknown. Into a space where nothing is defined by a concrete plan, just to live with nature and learn. It felt really good. The hard part was coming back after five years, it was a real challenge. I can honestly say that it has taken me a few years to re-adjust. How did your children feel about it? Didn’t you have any hesitations about taking them out of school and their stable environment? Rolf: They were 2, 4 and 7 at the time. At that age children don’t question choices their parents make. There was no problem adjusting for them at all. Kids thrive naturally in a natural environment. The great relief for us was that parenting didn’t feel like policing any longer. The children were quick to embrace that freedom. Also, they were part of the whole process: First living in a trailer at the bank of Lake Michigan, without running water or electricity, cooking over a fire and having to bathe in the lake. Then the whole process of creating a home in the woods: cutting down trees to create space to build a house, and a little logcabin school. So for them, that was the new normal. Did you have any worries about taking your children to some of the most remote places in the world, like the Amazon Rainforest or the Kalahari Desert? Renata: Yes, of course... We were not going to, let’s say, your typical touristy places. We were quite seasoned travellers but this was different. We were going to some places with conditions we never exposed ourselves to. When making plans like that, you do make a risk assessment, sure. But if we had listened to all the warnings, we would have never undertaken the journey. The medical travel consultants in the US made us sign disclaimers when we refused to take 15 shots each to protect ourselves against all kind of diseases. We managed to find many natural alternatives and only took the three most essential shots. You said it was challenging for you to return to civilization. What about your kids, was it easy for them to be back at school? Renata: For the girls it was really time. They had reached an age where they were ready to have more social interaction and their landing at
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