adj.Dazed or distracted with romantic sentiment.
adj.Lost in fantasy or reverie
Naiá e a Lua (Naiá and the Moon)
Naiá e a Lua (Naiá and the Moon)
In this haunting tale of death and rebirth, we follow a young girl in her journey to the Moon. After listing to an elder tell a creation story of how the stars came to be, Naiá falls in love with the Moon and looks to become a star—a role only the most beautiful woman are granted by the moon-god by replacing their blood with light and lifting them to the heavens to light the earth.
Naiá runs through the night following the moonlight, ultimately diving into deep water after the moon’s reflection even though she can’t swim. In many tellings of this story, her drowning would be a tragedy. In the Director’s telling of this story, however, death is recognized as a continuum of the human experience and, in Naiá’s case, an elevation to a Place of Light. Perhaps because of her beauty and pureness in seeking the Moon, she is elevated to share her light—joining the Moon in shining light on a dark world, guiding those of us beneath seeking beauty in its truest form.
A creation story of the Anishianaabe tribes gets a steampunk makeover in this modern reinterpretation of the tales of the Moon People. The film takes an innovative approach, using her love of beadwork to craft her characters and their surroundings. In an introduction to the film during its original release, the filmmaker also revealed that the film’s imagery had appeared to her in fractured dreams over the years before she created this piece. The narratives of her childhood, passed down by the elders for generations, clearly shaped her own visual narratives as she continues the great tradition of storytelling of her people.
Delivery from Earth imagines a new creation story: the birth of the first human on Mars, seen through the television of a Navajo family who are closely following the news coverage. Although it takes place in the not-so-distant future, the film touches on themes important in our lives today: the importance of sacrifice for those we love, supporting the passions of young people, and our interconnectedness with other beings in our galaxy and beyond. This short film will leave you with a smile on your face and hope for our world, and those beyond it. #imnotcrying #yourecrying
About the author
Bettina is a communications consultant, whose work supports social change initiatives in health and clean energy in southern Africa and Latin America. Her work has seen her teaching photography courses to youth in villages across Botswana, writing content for high ranking officials working in HIV/AIDS programming, and building business case studies for clean energy investments across southern Africa. She is currently based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
