Hondamai – The Journey of the Healers directed by Tilo Wondollek.

Together with a group of graduates, the head of an international healer school traveled to Sri Lanka to offer free healing sessions to the local population. Although this trip was well-prepared, it soon turned into a unique adventure. Encounters with the indigenous Adivasi people living there are hard to plan. With no direct contacts, unclear living locations, and a distinct language that differs significantly from that of the majority population in Sri Lanka, this posed a particular challenge given our tight schedule.

To preserve the special intimacy of the experiences and interactions on-site, I traveled this time with my equipment without an additional crew, making my camera work largely "invisible" to the participants, aside from the interview sequences. Managing camera, sound, and direction simultaneously in largely unpredictable scenarios was particularly challenging in the unfamiliar climatic conditions. However, what I was able to observe and capture with the camera made me quickly forget these difficulties. Despite vastly different cultural backgrounds and apparent language barriers, we experienced extraordinary encounters and surprising commonalities that had a lasting impact on everyone involved.

My goal was to embed these magical encounters within the sociocultural backgrounds of Sri Lanka's enchanting imagery and to enhance the atmosphere with a soundtrack partially created specifically for the film. I hope this film sparks curiosity about the topic of "alternative healing" and fosters more compassion, as well as the preservation of the wisdom and nature-connected knowledge of indigenous cultures worldwide, from which our so-called civilized societies can benefit once again.