THE HUMMINGBIRD PAINTS FRAGRANT SONGS (TIFF 2026) – Review by Leslie Combemale
As an art gallery owner (as well as a film critic), whenever an indigenous artist is given their due without being relegated to or pigeonholed as an “outsider” artist, I feel like an art angel gets their wings. Such is very much the case for Shipibo artist Sara Flores, a now world-renowned practitioner of kené. Kené is the spiritually-based Peruvian art done by the Shipibo-Conibo people of Peru’s central Amazon, in which geometric shapes are painted or embroidered on textiles, ceramic, wood, or other surfaces. The finished work expresses their worldview and spirituality. Flores has been practicing the art since she was 14, which is over 60 years now.
Let me get this out of the way. I LOVED The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs. Sara Flores, and her fascinating blend of a calm presence and the sort of artistic genius rarely recognized in the art world would be enough to captivate me for the span of writer/directors Èlia Gaskell Balada and Matteo Norzi’s film. Add, though, the cinematography by Johan Carrasco, which balances the natural world that inspires Flores, with the plastic, glam world of capitalism and winner-take-all attitude ruled by brands like Dior. Those two perspectives really bring home the weight of Flores’s inspired artistry, which, in the span of the documentary, becomes more about activism and standing for her community that about art for its own sake.
One of the most beautiful and moving moments of the film is watching “the chosen ones” (read: insta ready celebrities) ignore or pass by Flores at the Dior release party for her designs being centered that evening. She sits, steps away, but worlds apart from the people milling around and excitedly celebrating her work. That’s the thing, though. Artistic genius doesn’t limit itself to the ruling class. In fact, it often touches the shoulders of artists who need to raise awareness or bring attention to a very important issue important to them and the world, heretofore ignored by those “in power”.
A lot happens to and around this iconoclastic artist in the course of this documentary, and it has a sort of happy yet complicated ending you might expect from a documentary about an artist going against the corporate and societal grain. Through it all, it still inspires, not least because of the woman at its center, who, even in the midst of challenges and setbacks, finds a way to create awareness around issues critical to her family and friends, and design a new national flag that celebrates her people.
5 out of 5 stars
