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Cenote

Play trailer Poster for Cenote 2019 1h 15m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews Popcornmeter 0 Ratings
In Northern Yucatan, Mexico, natural sinkholes called 'cenotes' constituted the sole water source for Mayans not living near a river or lake. Some cenotes were used for ritual sacrifices, and the Mayans believed that these holy springs connected this world to the afterlife. The past and present of those living around the cenotes coalesce in this mysterious place. Long-lost memories echo in hallucinatory turquoise underwater footage, an entrancing game of light and dark. Swimming in these sinkholes, director Oda Kaori encounters intriguing shapes and beams of light, the water heaves, drops fall like razor blades.

Critics Reviews

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Ren Scateni Vague Visages 09/21/2023
By seemingly stripping the sacredness from the cenotes, and forcing the sinkholes to be penetrated by the eye of the camera, Oda appears to deconstruct the documentary’s premise: there’s no mystery to unearth… Go to Full Review Paul Attard In Review Online 06/05/2021
There's a half-hour experimental short located somewhere in Cenote ... Until that massive re-editing occurs, left are the morsels of a fully developed work. Go to Full Review Panos Kotzathanasis Asian Movie Pulse 03/11/2021
a difficult film to watch, for both its rather experimental approach and its duration, which exceeds 70 minutes. However, there is also much artistry and beauty here Go to Full Review Pieter-Jan Van Haecke Psychocinematography 01/03/2021
A beautiful experimental documentary exploring the position of life and death within the Mayan society of the past and the current society. Go to Full Review Mark Schilling Japan Times 09/17/2020
3.5/5
There's something hypnotic about the procession of swirling, glittering images, and haunting about the narration, which is drawn from Mayan poetry and delivered by otherworldly voices. Go to Full Review Read all reviews
Cenote

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Cast & Crew

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Kaori Oda

Director

Kaori Oda

Producer

Marta Hernaiz Pidal

Producer

Jorge Dorado

Producer

Takashi Echigoya

Executive Producer

Kaori Oda

Cinematographer
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Cenote

Cenote (2019) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In Northern Yucatan, Mexico, natural sinkholes called 'cenotes' constituted the sole water source for Mayans not living near a river or lake. Some cenotes were used for ritual sacrifices, and the Mayans believed that these holy springs connected this world to the afterlife. The past and present of those living around the cenotes coalesce in this mysterious place. Long-lost memories echo in hallucinatory turquoise underwater footage, an entrancing game of light and dark. Swimming in these sinkholes, director Oda Kaori encounters intriguing shapes and beams of light, the water heaves, drops fall like razor blades.
Director
Kaori Oda
Producer
Kaori Oda, Marta Hernaiz Pidal, Jorge Dorado
Screenwriter
Kaori Oda
Production Co
Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
Japanese
Runtime
1h 15m