BAKUNAWA: Opera of the Seven Moons

2021

43min

Bakunawa rose from the ocean, so mesmerized by the light of the seven moons that she devoured them all. Dismayed, the people emerged, making noise and begging Bakunawa to give them back the moonlight. Bakunawa agreed and returned the seventh moon back into the sky, thus creating the first lunar eclipse. Part sonic ritual, part diasporic storytelling, "BAKUNAWA: Opera of the Seven Moons" is an experimental opera-film based on Micaela Tobin's critically-acclaimed album of the same name that reclaims the pre-colonial mythology of the Philippines back from centuries of violent, colonial erasure.