Tobacco: The first plant (documentary)

Aim

To create a documentary film that shares the ancestral, spiritual and medicinal use of Tobacco for educational purpose.

The world is aware of tobacco and the effects that commercial tobacco products have had on society globally. The stories being told by the media describe a world of consumerism, wealth, addiction and illness, and as we moves towards a culture of health and wellness, the collective view of tobacco is again becoming distorted.  

Few may be aware that for many Indigenous cultures, tobacco is considered one of the most important plant medicines, and its ceremonial use is at the centre of many spiritual and cultural worldviews. It is considered the grandfather of the plant kingdom, guiding and protecting natural order. 

Origin stories tell of the first plant, gifted to humanity by the Creator, so that humans could remember their origins through communication with the universe. Tobacco was viewed as sacred, being used with respect and reverence; a tool to transmit prayer and intention, to ask for guidance and protection, and to heal. Tobacco is considered an exchange in reciprocity. For anything that was taken or received, tobacco was given—a token, not a commodity.

Because of its cultural significance, tobacco was seen as a token of exchange and reciprocity between humans and the natural world, between mutual communities, and between international countries through the colonization of the Americas.

While this expansion of tobacco exchange sowed the seeds for its misunderstanding and industrialisation, the allure of tobacco found its way into the cultural and spiritual practices of indigenous communities around the world, not as a commodity but as a spiritual tool, as if its intended use was coded in the leaf itself. 

The industrial misunderstanding and misuse of tobacco by the New World can be seen as a mirror, reflecting the trajectory that modern civilisation has taken in its current course: the treatment of people, the animal and insect kingdom, the land, water, and the planet's resources. A path that collectively we are becoming aware of and have begun to reorient.

So this is more than a story about tobacco; it is a story about our relationship to the world around us. By remembering tobacco, we remember a system of respect and balance that remains at the foundation of humanity, however obscured by the stories we currently tell. 

As we experience a cultural paradigm shift towards beginning to remember and value medicinal and psycho-spiritual plant traditions (psilocybin, ayahuasca, cacao, peyote for example) especially within the scientific community, it would be an oversight for tobacco to remain generally misunderstood, especially by authorities, or be reduced to 'nicotine' chemistry beyond its destructive industrial legacy. 

So let us remember tobacco by revisiting its origins as an ancient and important plant.  

It is said that tobacco teaches us empowerment, sovereignty, resilience, respect, balance, communication, reciprocity, clarity and truth; a lesson worth its weight in tobacco. 

The vision for the film is to weave together stories of tobacco from across the Americas and beyond, sharing the mythology, ancestral and current use of tobacco and how this plant informs and shapes their worldview. After centuries of suppression and distortion of indigenous knowledge, these stories might bring into  global consciousness, the wisdom and lessons they contain. 

We will hear this tale through sharing the traditions of South America (Mamankunawa, Shipibo, and Shuar), the Caribbean (Taíno), North America and Canada (Lakota, Ojibwe, Cherokee, Navajo).

We hope to make a film that reaches a wide and diverse audience through community screenings and streaming platforms and to contribute to the larger conversations taking place around traditional plant medicines, creating a bridge between science, culture, and spirituality.

Nick is from Devon, UK. He is a cameraman and editor by trade with 15+ years working in the profession. He has spent many years studying the traditional Amazonian use of tobacco as a medicine in Peru and is a qualified Tabaquero (tobacco doctor) These two passions in his life have come together to inspire this project. 

Yui is from Kyoto, Japan. She worked as a professional animator for many years in the UK before moving into film editing and producing. She is also a student of Amazonian tobacco medicine. 

They both live in South Wales. 

We recently self-funded a trip to the Peruvian Amazon to film the tobacco farmers on the Ucayali River; these communities grow and supply pure, unadulterated tobacco leaves to the local healers and doctors who use it ceremonially and medicinally. The trip really inspired us to venture out and get this film made.    

Because of the general views around tobacco, it has been difficult to apply for traditional funding, so we are approaching the larger online community for support from those who might share a similar incentive.

Logistically, a large portion of the funding raised will pay for travel and accommodation during the shooting schedule to visit the different cultures and nations that use tobacco in its traditional context, with scope to visit the USA, Canada, the Amazon Basin, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. 

The funding will also provide post-production workflow (colour grade, score, sound mix)

We realise that money is an exchange of energy, so we truly appreciate the investment of your energy in this film. We hope to create a film that resonates with, and uplifts its viewers with a tale of remembrance, hope and creativity.  

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 24th July 2026 at 10:26pm