Otto Placht - Painter of the Jungle
Film - installation - meeting
documentary film by Alice Růžičková and Martin Čihák
Producers: Alice Růžičková and ČT (under the creative team of O. Šrámka)
Directed by: Alice Růžičková
Director of photography and edited by: Martin Čihák
Sound: Michal Janoušek
Concept and script: Alice Růžičková and Martin Čihák
Length: 57 min.
Premiere: 1999
Otto Plach (1962) is a Czech painter who now lives and creates in the "suburbs" of a virgin Amazon forest near the town of Pucalpa on the upper part of the Ucayalí River in Peru. There, he married Monika, an Indian from the tribe Shipibo. They have two children, and now live in the house built by Otto himself in the village of San Francisco. He paints on musquite wood which has been previously coloured using the pigment from bark, vines and fruit from the neighbouring plants, in addition to his and his family's day-to-day fight for survival in the uncomfortable tropical nature. He is also interested in Shamanism and in his visions he has while under the stimulation of the drugs created by the plant - "iahuaska".
Painter of the Jungle was filmed using 16MM coloured film. It documents Otto's life in Peru: his family life in the Indian village; the tradition of creating Indian ceramics; the Shaman ritual of preparing and drinking "iahuaska"; his attempt of finding his place and creating the art therapy centre in Peru. The film also manages to present excellent aerial sequences of the of the forest from a Russian helicopter that, until today, is still being used by the Peruvian army. There are also clips taken of Pucalpa, an exotic town which was founded before the 1930's by adventurers and businessmen working and plundering the wild forests. In the film, you will witness Otto's unique way of expression, and also hear his medley of opinions about the esoteric plan of the Amazon, about ecology and his own European tradition.