The Eternal Night of Twelve Moons Trailer (2013)

Trailer for The Eternal Night of Twelve Moons.

“I’m happy to be locked up and to carry on our traditions,” says Pili, a young Wayuu who is making the transition to womanhood. In Pili’s community, tradition dictates that, after their first menstruation and in order to be properly appreciated, young women must be isolated from all men for 12 moon cycles. During this time, accompanied only by the women in the family, the girls learn to weave and acquire other skills that will be useful to them in future. A solid narrative discourse that includes references to Wayuu cosmogony describes the three phases in the ritual Pili must complete: the history behind her isolation, the long period of seclusion she must sit out, and the celebration at the end of it, when Pili is officially declared a young woman or majayut. Thanks to some intelligent directing and inspired photography, what could easily have been a simple ethnographic documentary is transformed into a beautiful film about tradition, liberation and the ever-arduous task of being a woman.