Cenote (2019) - full transcript
The past and present of the people living in and around them intersect, and distant memories echo throughout immersive scenes of light and darkness.
This is our story.
And here we are.
CENOTE
How long have we been here?
The Sun.
Who were you?
What do you wear on your skin?
On that day, we wore
beautiful clothes of gold.
The people got down on
their knees in front of us.
Prayers were not enough.
We want to go back to where we were born.
To where the sun rises and disappears.
To where the earth is dry and burns.
To where the faint
breeze touches our cheeks.
How can we get out of here?
We have already melted into the water.
We can’t get out of here
but the living can come down.
A boy went into the cenote during August.
When people saw that he didn't come back,
they went to wait for him to come out,
and they say that the body came up.
But I can't tell you if he did come up
because I didn't go to see him.
They say it did come up.
The other boy that went into
the cenote never came up.
People waited for the body to come up,
but it didn't come up.
He went into a cenote, now we don't know
in which cenote he'll show up.
They say the body could get stuck.
It could go far.
That’s the problem with the cenote.
Cenote has many canals.
When I was a kid there was a cenote
near our town.
Many adults were taken into the cenote.
Year after year...
the water would rise
and take people into the cenote.
They died there. Some people don’t believe
that the water carries people with it,
because the cenote is 20 meters deep.
The foam and the water that come out
is what takes people.
If you are in its path, it will take you
and bury you inside the cenote.
Many people died there. They didn't know
about this and went to the cenote.
Then people realized that
when there’s bad weather,
in each storm, the cenote water
rises up to 20 meters.
Our reciters told us
the song of the minstrel.
One day I will kiss your mouth
between the plants of the milpa.
Shimmering beauty,
will you wake up?
We never saw the sea.
We wonder what is below the horizon.
Our fathers were afraid that
bad wind may come from the sea,
and bring us a fever.
Who knows how it happened,
I was small I only heard tales.
There was a lady who used to
live close to the cenote.
She had her baby and was feeding him
his night milk and the kid drank it.
The kid fell asleep, then the mother went
out. She climbed and jumped into the cenote.
They realized she was gone
and was nowhere to be found.
But they say that 24 hours after
the body always comes up on the water.
People look for a way to get it out.
I have seen 22 year old young man
who used to get drunk and walk by.
He walked around the place
where the men cut grass.
He jumped into the cenote and died.
They couldn't find him
when they looked for him,
but three days after that school boys said
someone saw a person inside a water well.
He was dead when he was taken out.
The water well was deep
so it was hard to get him out.
Every god danced and they disguised us
as birds, jaguars, bees,
butterflies, or beetles.
Following the dance of gods,
we dream of a falling meteor.
A meteor is crossing the Sun.
A meteor is falling on us
and making landscapes in our faces.
When the drought comes, the only place where
there will be water left is in the cenote.
It has a Mayan name, Cabachem.
There, to be able to drink
the water in the “cocoyol” shell,
you have to offer a baby,
so the legend goes.
Round and round in circles.
The lust to dominate lives.
Not to be dominated.
Their horses brought the chain of blood.
My mother always told stories because when she
was small there was no electricity here in town.
They used to go to the cenote
very often to drink water.
Here in Uzil cenote, since it’s closer to us,
people would go to rest for a while to be refreshed.
Many people said that when they arrived they
would see a big snake, like a dragon with wings.
Here in town we all know that it is
the owner of the cenote.
Sometimes when you go to the cenote,
all the walls have water on them,
because they say that it comes out
and shakes its body.
At night, the people who go to the woods say
it comes out and they see it flying around,
mostly during full moon, they see it
come in and out the cenote.
That’s why sometimes when we go to the cenote
there’s water outside. They say the cenote overflows,
but other people say it is
the creature which lives in the cenote.
They say ancient Mayans used to
live in the cenote Uzil.
They would make Sac’ha,
the traditional Mayan drink.
They would do their rituals,
and offer it to the cenote,
But now they don’t do that anymore.
They say that after a while the cenote comes
alive and takes a sacrifice on its own.
That’s why people who die in the cenote are
never seen again, not even their bodies.
We don’t know if it’s because the cenote has veins
that connect to another cenote or to the sea.
But, the last time a person died there, about
two years ago, they never found his body.
They even had a Mayan ritual, prayers for a
week. Divers came but he was never found.
That’s why people believe the cenote has an owner
and when someone goes you never see them again.
Minstrels are the prophets.
The prophets are the reciters.
The reciters are our memories.
The living cleans the bones to
think of the dead souls.
The grave keeper takes care of the bones
without any surviving relatives.
Those unknown living.
Those unknown dead souls.
Let them sing.
Flowing with joy.
Let them sing.
Wandering with gazes.
Let them sing.
Making a myth of Tomorrow.
We are not defeated.
The world is divided,
in those who dominate
and in slaves.
Here came the most blood thirsty men,
with vices,
rapists.
They scared us with cannons.
They divided us.
Horses
destroyed codices and temples,
desecrated beliefs,
raped women,
but they have not ended us.
They don’t know that
in the silence gods live,
like Tepew,
like Kukumatz
and Huracán.
Who will throw dirt in
their mouth and eyes?
We are thousands waiting,
decimated,
hurt in the soul.
We have to learn to live with
the light of the sun and the moon,
to speak with the sea,
give food to eternity,
receive those who will be born,
clean up the streets from
the trash of these centuries,
carve stone,
and may the crops be fertilized.
The dew,
the air,
and the humidity.
To see how the trees grow,
how they spread their seeds,
regain cedro trees,
ceiba trees,
lemon trees,
the smell of flowers,
also
let’s not forget the holy custom,
13th deity,
recognize roads,
towns,
towns and sea,
cardinal points.
How is one born?
Live?
And dies?
Dogwood trees,
grandfather.
Who will answer these questions?
It is us.
It is us.
We remember all we saw and heard.
Nothing is forgotten.
Impossible memories.
Are they really ours?
Today there is a feast in the villages.
Dawn streams over the horizon.
It goes south. It goes north.
It goes east, and also the west.
Light comes to the earth.
Darkness is gone.
Roaches, crickets, fleas and hummingbirds
hurry home.
Magpies, white doves, swallows,
partridges, mockingbirds, thrushes, quail,
red and white birds rush about
light of the sun.
All the forest birds
begin their song because
morning dew brings happiness.
The Beautiful Star
shines over the woods,
smoking as it sinks and vanishes.
The moon too dies
over the green forest.
Happiness has arrived
in these towns
because a new day brings the dawn.
And here we are.
CENOTE
How long have we been here?
The Sun.
Who were you?
What do you wear on your skin?
On that day, we wore
beautiful clothes of gold.
The people got down on
their knees in front of us.
Prayers were not enough.
We want to go back to where we were born.
To where the sun rises and disappears.
To where the earth is dry and burns.
To where the faint
breeze touches our cheeks.
How can we get out of here?
We have already melted into the water.
We can’t get out of here
but the living can come down.
A boy went into the cenote during August.
When people saw that he didn't come back,
they went to wait for him to come out,
and they say that the body came up.
But I can't tell you if he did come up
because I didn't go to see him.
They say it did come up.
The other boy that went into
the cenote never came up.
People waited for the body to come up,
but it didn't come up.
He went into a cenote, now we don't know
in which cenote he'll show up.
They say the body could get stuck.
It could go far.
That’s the problem with the cenote.
Cenote has many canals.
When I was a kid there was a cenote
near our town.
Many adults were taken into the cenote.
Year after year...
the water would rise
and take people into the cenote.
They died there. Some people don’t believe
that the water carries people with it,
because the cenote is 20 meters deep.
The foam and the water that come out
is what takes people.
If you are in its path, it will take you
and bury you inside the cenote.
Many people died there. They didn't know
about this and went to the cenote.
Then people realized that
when there’s bad weather,
in each storm, the cenote water
rises up to 20 meters.
Our reciters told us
the song of the minstrel.
One day I will kiss your mouth
between the plants of the milpa.
Shimmering beauty,
will you wake up?
We never saw the sea.
We wonder what is below the horizon.
Our fathers were afraid that
bad wind may come from the sea,
and bring us a fever.
Who knows how it happened,
I was small I only heard tales.
There was a lady who used to
live close to the cenote.
She had her baby and was feeding him
his night milk and the kid drank it.
The kid fell asleep, then the mother went
out. She climbed and jumped into the cenote.
They realized she was gone
and was nowhere to be found.
But they say that 24 hours after
the body always comes up on the water.
People look for a way to get it out.
I have seen 22 year old young man
who used to get drunk and walk by.
He walked around the place
where the men cut grass.
He jumped into the cenote and died.
They couldn't find him
when they looked for him,
but three days after that school boys said
someone saw a person inside a water well.
He was dead when he was taken out.
The water well was deep
so it was hard to get him out.
Every god danced and they disguised us
as birds, jaguars, bees,
butterflies, or beetles.
Following the dance of gods,
we dream of a falling meteor.
A meteor is crossing the Sun.
A meteor is falling on us
and making landscapes in our faces.
When the drought comes, the only place where
there will be water left is in the cenote.
It has a Mayan name, Cabachem.
There, to be able to drink
the water in the “cocoyol” shell,
you have to offer a baby,
so the legend goes.
Round and round in circles.
The lust to dominate lives.
Not to be dominated.
Their horses brought the chain of blood.
My mother always told stories because when she
was small there was no electricity here in town.
They used to go to the cenote
very often to drink water.
Here in Uzil cenote, since it’s closer to us,
people would go to rest for a while to be refreshed.
Many people said that when they arrived they
would see a big snake, like a dragon with wings.
Here in town we all know that it is
the owner of the cenote.
Sometimes when you go to the cenote,
all the walls have water on them,
because they say that it comes out
and shakes its body.
At night, the people who go to the woods say
it comes out and they see it flying around,
mostly during full moon, they see it
come in and out the cenote.
That’s why sometimes when we go to the cenote
there’s water outside. They say the cenote overflows,
but other people say it is
the creature which lives in the cenote.
They say ancient Mayans used to
live in the cenote Uzil.
They would make Sac’ha,
the traditional Mayan drink.
They would do their rituals,
and offer it to the cenote,
But now they don’t do that anymore.
They say that after a while the cenote comes
alive and takes a sacrifice on its own.
That’s why people who die in the cenote are
never seen again, not even their bodies.
We don’t know if it’s because the cenote has veins
that connect to another cenote or to the sea.
But, the last time a person died there, about
two years ago, they never found his body.
They even had a Mayan ritual, prayers for a
week. Divers came but he was never found.
That’s why people believe the cenote has an owner
and when someone goes you never see them again.
Minstrels are the prophets.
The prophets are the reciters.
The reciters are our memories.
The living cleans the bones to
think of the dead souls.
The grave keeper takes care of the bones
without any surviving relatives.
Those unknown living.
Those unknown dead souls.
Let them sing.
Flowing with joy.
Let them sing.
Wandering with gazes.
Let them sing.
Making a myth of Tomorrow.
We are not defeated.
The world is divided,
in those who dominate
and in slaves.
Here came the most blood thirsty men,
with vices,
rapists.
They scared us with cannons.
They divided us.
Horses
destroyed codices and temples,
desecrated beliefs,
raped women,
but they have not ended us.
They don’t know that
in the silence gods live,
like Tepew,
like Kukumatz
and Huracán.
Who will throw dirt in
their mouth and eyes?
We are thousands waiting,
decimated,
hurt in the soul.
We have to learn to live with
the light of the sun and the moon,
to speak with the sea,
give food to eternity,
receive those who will be born,
clean up the streets from
the trash of these centuries,
carve stone,
and may the crops be fertilized.
The dew,
the air,
and the humidity.
To see how the trees grow,
how they spread their seeds,
regain cedro trees,
ceiba trees,
lemon trees,
the smell of flowers,
also
let’s not forget the holy custom,
13th deity,
recognize roads,
towns,
towns and sea,
cardinal points.
How is one born?
Live?
And dies?
Dogwood trees,
grandfather.
Who will answer these questions?
It is us.
It is us.
We remember all we saw and heard.
Nothing is forgotten.
Impossible memories.
Are they really ours?
Today there is a feast in the villages.
Dawn streams over the horizon.
It goes south. It goes north.
It goes east, and also the west.
Light comes to the earth.
Darkness is gone.
Roaches, crickets, fleas and hummingbirds
hurry home.
Magpies, white doves, swallows,
partridges, mockingbirds, thrushes, quail,
red and white birds rush about
light of the sun.
All the forest birds
begin their song because
morning dew brings happiness.
The Beautiful Star
shines over the woods,
smoking as it sinks and vanishes.
The moon too dies
over the green forest.
Happiness has arrived
in these towns
because a new day brings the dawn.