Opening the Earth: The Potato King
Documentary
The visually stunning documentary, celebrating the indigenous cultures of the Andes Mountains and what they can teach us in today’s modern society.
Opening the Earth: The Potato King
Opening the Earth: The Potato King
Documentary
The visually stunning documentary, celebrating the indigenous cultures of the Andes Mountains and what they can teach us in today’s modern society.
About
The vision of Opening the Earth: The Potato King is to tell the story of Julio Hancco, an ageing guardian of biodiversity living at 14,600 ft above sea level in the Andes Mountains in Peru. His humble life and rise to international fame is contrasted with the global significance of his work and how the modern world may depend on him in an emergency. Julio Hancco represents a people, a culture, and a way of life that is being lost to modernization. The new generation of Peruvians are losing their desire to farm, more driven to be able to afford material possessions than inherit the land from their ancestors. Opening the Earth: The Potato King follows two young Peruvians on opposite sides of the issue. Hernan Hancco is the Potato King’s son, and has chosen to leave his small village for the capital city of Lima, Peru in search of a career and wealth. He has found that the dream of living in the big city isn’t always what it is promoted to be. Yenni Quispe-Surco is a young school girl who faces a decision, move to the city to pursue wealth and modern success, or stay in her village and carry on the traditional Quechua lifestyle of her ancestors. The result is a documentary that challenges our perception of poverty and celebrates traditional knowledge.
Screenings
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (World Premiere) – Santa Barbara, CA January 30, 2019 – February 9, 2019
Boynton Beach Short Film Festival – Boynton Beach, FL April 30, 2019 – May 5, 2019
Franke Center for the Arts – Marshall, MI August 17, 2019
Oaxaca FilmFest – Oaxaca de Juarez, Mexico October 4, 2019 – October 10, 2019
Fresh Coast Film Festival – Marquette MI October 17, 2019 – October 20, 2019
Banff Mounatin Film Festival- Banff, AB October 25, 2019 – November 3, 2019
Banff Mounatin Film Festival World Tour 2019 / 2020
Stroud Film Festival March 8th 2020
Norwich Film Festival November 29th, 2020 – Nominated Best Documentary
Trailer
Opening the Earth: The Potato King is a documentary about Julio Hancco, one of the few remaining guardians of Biodiversity left in the world. At 14,600 ft in the Andes Mountains, Julio’s life is a relic of an ancient time. As a child, he was passed down 60 varieties of native potatoes from his ancestors, which he has cross-bred into over 350 varieties. He cannot read or write, has no running water, and uses no modern farming equipment. Yet he manages to grow more varieties of potatoes than most modernized nations on our planet. This biodiversity originates from his culture and its rich agricultural traditions passed down from the Inca Empire. Now, modernization is threatening this way of life and all the strengths that come along with it. The youth are leaving the villages for the big city, abounding agriculture and the traditions of their ancestors. Julio Hancco is getting old, losing the strength to carry on his farming practices. He has no one to pass his knowledge on to, these traditions are being lost with the new generation wanting more modern lives. Will their culture survive? Or will it all be lost with the last Potato King?
Press
“Via sweeping vistas of the snow-capped Andes and visuals so rich you can almost feel the texture of soil sliding through your fingers, Opening the Earth introduces us to Julio Hancco of Pampacorral, a weathered man with a mouthful of silver, revered in his community as the Potato King.”
— Karen Gross, USD Magazine
“Instead of viewing this community as poor simply because they don’t have financial or economic resources, it discards that approach and looks at the group’s strengths and the resilience” “Rather than seeking to link these communities with others that have financial resources and looking for a technical fix, it’s really about listening, learning, and trying to understand other peoples and other knowledge systems.”
Kevin Guerrieri, Associate Professor of Latin American Literature, University of San Diego
Team
Eric Ebner- Director- Cinematographer- Editor
Eric is an documentry filmmaker from Marshall, Michigan. His premiere short film, The Bull has shown in over 14 countries and is currently on tour with the Save the Waves Coalition. Eric now lives and works in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in Peru as an independent filmmaker and photographer.
Aaron Ebner-Writer-Director-Cinematographer
Aaron is a co-founder and executive director of The Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development in the Andes of Peru. Aaron has dedicated a decade of his life to living and working in high altitude campesino communities. The work of the Andean Alliance has impacted national policy and trained thousands to take pride in indigenous culture and challenge perceptions of poverty. Aaron lives on a small farm in the Peruvian Andes.
Jenna Semenoff – Executive Producer – Art Director
Jenna is a web developer and designer from Nelson, British Columbia, Canada where she co-founded The Sandwich Collective in 2010. The Sandwich Collective designs campaigns and marketing solutions for companies around the world with a focus on health, wellness and adventure industries.
Paul J. Lynch- Executive Producer- Writer
Paul has been involved in some form of production for the last ten years. He aspires to make documentary films that educate, inspire, and reveal the far too often ignored stories from around the world. Paul launched Cage Free Productions in 2006 to create impactful media that promote social justice, human rights, and sustainability.
Producers
Karen Elliott
Stephanie Smith
Funding
This project was funded by a Kickstarter campaign, supported by our family, friends, and networks who wanted to see Julio’s Hancco’s story come to light. From the Opening the Earth team, we cannot thank everyone enough for all of their support. All donors will receive exclusive access to the film upon completion.
We are currently submitting the documentary to film festivals all over the world. With your support we can enter more festivals and share Julio’s story.
Thank You
| Adam Stieglitz Ahmed Salem Alice H Rogstad Alison Ann Woolf Smith Bernadette Tirre Betsy Doherty Betsy Rogstad Buwa Ijirigho Caitlin Casey Carla Turoff Carol Fisher Cate Neidlinger Claudia Murch CONDUIT Sports Daniel Boyer Danielle Steer Dash Hillgartner David & Yolanda Debbie shubert Deedric Bauer dinny bomberg ed perry El Guapo Guzman Emily Gray Goerl Eric Eric and Allison Ebner Erin Ethan Ebner Eugenie Rogstad Haleena Ian Peters | Jason Emond Jason Semenoff Jeannine Thurn Jen Henderson Jen Wagner jenna Jennifer Watt Jess Jessica Reilly Jessy Bradish Jim & Claire Hammer Joanne Baker Jon Karen Elliott Kate Hunter Katie Katie Blackmun Kohl Kaufman Kris Perez Krow Laura Weyrich-VanderBerg Liza Larson Lois Ann Lorentzen Lori feldpausch Luisa Heymann Margie Guyot Marie Vida Mark Loehrke Mary Jo Byrne Mary Saetham Maureen Dion-Perry Meena Michael | Michael and Christine Perez Michael J Edgar Mike Morris Morrie Warshawski Nichole Norby Nick Zalewski Nicole koch Nuket Kardam pat mccann Phil Poncho Lucke Q Rebecca LoVerso Robert Backlund RuxinZheng Ryan Widemon Sam and Laverne Semenoff scott Sheila Webb Sherri and George Seifert Stephanie Delnea Stephanie Smith Suzanne Greenfield Pitre Thomas Duffey Tina Novero tlai Tyler Candelaria Wê Wil Mayo Ximena Ospina Yalonda Sell |
Contact
For all film inquiries email: eebner21@gmail.com. For more information including the Director’s Statement, Plot Synopsis for Press, Main Characters, Film Stills, and more, download the Media Packet below.
Sign up
We’d like to send you emails about screenings, events and exciting news about the documentary. Sign up now to receive more information and stay connected.
