About the Film
Path to a Happy Life is a documentary film that follows the inspiring story of five indigenous Quechua families who have come together in solidarity and resistance against forces of oppression that threaten their cultural heritage, way of life, and the future of their children. Over twenty years ago these families formed a grassroots cultural movement to reclaim their heritage and indigenous identity through engaging in activities to preserve the ancient wisdom, values, and the traditions of their ancestors. Through their work they have created a grassroots framework that has inspired other indigenous communities around the world to reclaim their traditions and advocate for their rights to self determination in the face of neocolonial political structures and forces of globalization that threaten their very existence.
The story of the Kusi Kawsay community is one healing from generations of historical trauma as a result of the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 16th century. But this is not a story that is relegated to the pages of history. It is a story of hope and future possibilities. Not only for indigenous communities, but for humanity as a whole. It is a story that inspires us as humans to regain our connection with Mother Nature, in an era where we are all facing the catastrophic consequences of a looming global climate crisis and a seemingly imminent global cataclysm that threatens the very existence of our world as we know it. It is my hope and dream as a filmmaker that this film can inspire audiences to learn from the ancient wisdom of indigenous peoples, and to apply this wisdom directly in our own lives. I firmly believe that the values and teachings of indigenous peoples can guide us all in enacting the necessary changes in our own lives, so that together we can correct the course of humanity and create positive and lasting sociopolitical and environmental change. And in doing so, leave our world a better and more peaceful place for future generations.
Bio
Walker Hull is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Washington, DC. He currently divides his time between DC, the Peruvian Andes, and the Amazon rainforest where he is working on documentary projects in collaboration with traditional indigenous communities [through a multimedia production company he co-founded, Indigimedia].
Walker earth rned his BA in Cultural Anthropology from New College of Florida, where he specialized in Visual Anthropology with a specific focus in ethnographic filmmaking. As a young child growing up in rural New Mexico, he developed a deep connection with the land and all its mysteries. He remembers picking up prehistoric fossils as a little boy in the backyard of his childhood home, contemplating what life must have been like so many eons ago where he now stood, looking out over the vast expanse of pure high altitude desert and open sky with no signs of human presence as far as the eye could see. On one occasion, when Walker was seven years old, he found an old Native American spear. A beautifully hand carved stone spearhead expertly fastened to a long wooden handle with finely cut strips of leather. He imagined the people who made and used this high-tech hunting tool, and contemplated about their daily lives. He wondered what stories they told to their children and what they thought of the world and their place in the cosmos. These ideas were furthered by his time as a young boy spent gazing up into the milkyway galaxy, unobscured by light pollution, and reading about native mythologies and origin stories. This deep connection to the land and the stars spurred his interest in native cosmologies and worldviews.
With his background in Anthropology and ethnographic filmmaking, Walker is focused on facilitating opportunities and building a platform with his films for those whose voices are not normally given the space or the chance to be heard in our capitalist and ethnocentric modern global society. Walker’s primary intention behind his documentary work is to collaborate hand in hand with marginalized and oppressed indigenous peoples to share their wisdom, knowledge and stories with the world for the benefit of all humanity, animals, and Mother Nature. As a documentary filmmaker, Walker strives to influence sociopolitical and environmental change through his work.
He is currently in production of his first feature length documentary entitled, Path to a Happy Life, that follows the story of an indigenous Quechua community in the Peruvian Andes and their inspirational grassroots cultural work.