Paper short abstract:

Yuyos (2018) is an ethnographic film of 70'', by Michal Krawczyk and Giulia Lepori, in Spanish and Guarani with English subtitles. Format: mp4 HD 1080p. Country of filming: Paraguay. Info: echoesofecologies.noblogs.org/yuyos

Paper long abstract:

"Yuyos are all spontaneous plants that can be medicinal or simple herbs. There are yuyos that can be toxic and other that are beneficial for health."

In Colonia Luz Bella, Paraguay, two independent researchers live with the peasant family Franco Gauto to document their ethnobotanical knowledge in relation to their daily life.

Nowadays, as deforestation devours much of the Paraguayan territory to make room for industrial monocultures, genetically modified plants are substituting the endemic ones and changing the naturalcultural landscape of the country.

Born to recover the natural medicine's heritage of one family dedicated to agroecology, the ethnographic film speaks for a whole human and non-human community that is being transformed by deforestation.

In a context of familiar sharing, eased by the social beverage of tereré, yuyos become narrative agents spurring their human others to tell the stories of commitment and eco-resistance about their changing world.