SYNOPSIS Soy Andina Peru/USA, 2007, 72min Director: Mitchell Teplitsky Soy Andina is the story of two New York women raised in different worlds — an immigrant folk dancer from the Andes, and a modern dancer from Queens, NY — who journey to Peru to reconnect with their roots and an astonishing world of traditional dance and culture. After fifteen years in New York, Nélida Silva returns to her birthplace in the Andes to fulfill a lifelong dream and host the fiesta patronal — a week of dance, music, and ritual honoring the town’s patron saint. But Neli's changed, and so has the village. What's it like to go back to the Andes when you've become a New Yorker? Meanwhile, Cynthia Paniagua, a dancer raised in Queens by a Peruvian mom, embarks on her own Peruvian journey after meeting Neli — determined to 'quench a burning desire to know the real Peru, to unearth the mystery of the dances.' Cynthia’s quest takes her first to the sprawling capital city of Lima, where she must grapple with cultural misunderstandings and a serious identity crisis. Guided by advice from Neli back in New York, Cynthia leaves Lima and journeys up the coast and into the Andes, in search of “the real Peru” and the essence of the authentic dances and traditions. Soy Andina is an exuberant cross-cultural road trip, propelled by traditional music and dance rarely seen outside the country. But the core story is intimate and universal: a yearning for roots and connection in turbulent times.