Cenote

This captivating experimental documentary approaches natural sinkholes in Mexico as glimmering physical phenomena and natural forms rich with indigenous knowledge and history. “Cenotes” once constituted a vital source of water for Mayan people in Yucatán, sacred places where sacrificial offerings were made. Said to connect the living world and the afterlife, they act as portals to a distinct cosmology as well as sites of unique optical and aural phenomena. With a voiceover presenting Mayan poetry and research on the cenotes’ history amidst a bubbling soundscape, Oda combines Super-8mm and iPhone X footage, immersing the viewer in light and dark between beams of sunshine in otherworldly underwater and underground visions. Oda continues to push the documentary form in this film previously screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and FICUNAM Mexico.

• Special Mention, New Asian Currents, 30th Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival

Available streaming territory: U.S. only

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