In the remote Andean highlands of Peru, Victoriano Arisapana cares for the woven footbridge that has stretched over the gorge for hundreds of years. The secrets of this bridge, the only one left from the ancient Incan empire, have been passed down by the men of Victoriano's family for 300 years.
He is the Bridge Master, the one who has inherited the sacred task of weaving the bridge and of making the sacrificial offerings to the mountain spirits each year. But his sons are drawn to life in the city and his daughter is prohibited from this male-only tradition. When she goes missing a week before the start of 9th grade, this Andean farmer must confront an uncertain future, caught between preserving family tradition and losing his children to a world of change.
THE BRIDGE MASTER'S DAUGHTER 84 minutes, Color, 2019, Documentary In Spanish with English subtitles
Filmmaker Biographies
Elisa Stone is a Peruvian-American independent filmmaker who was raised in Peru. She studied film in Vancouver, B.C. where she co-founded Noonday Films. Her company has produced award-winning documentaries about guerrilla gardening in Vancouver, B.C., children with HIV/AIDS in Honduras (Crystal Heart Award, Heartland Film Festival), and elderly activists in the United States (DER Award, Hot Docs Festival). The Bridge Master’s Daughter was born out of Elisa’s deep love of Peru and her passion
for the stories of her people. As a Peruvian woman, Elisa has been allowed access to a significant aspect of Andean culture, which has been reflected in the intimacy of the shooting for this film.
In 2014, Elisa produced a video on the Qeswachaka bridge for the Smithsonian’s exhibition, "The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire." Her bridge footage has been broadcast on Discovery Science and TVPERU.
Matthew Leahy studied film
in Vancouver, BC and is now based in Columbus, OH. His company Noonday Films has been filming and producing documentaries and commercial video for 8 years. The documentary he produced, directed and edited, MONTAÑA DE LUZ (a film about a home in Honduras for children with HIV/AIDS) won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival and is currently being distributed by Icarus Films. His short documentary OLD RADICALS premiered at the Hot Docs festival in Toronto and won the DER Award in the International Documentary Challenge. It was also broadcast on the Documentary Challenge.
Matthew co-directed The Bridge Master's Daughter with his partner, Elisa Stone Leahy.
For press inquiries and screening links contact either:
