Jülapüin Yonna (The Dream of Dance), the evocative new short film by Wayuu filmmaker Luzbeidy Monterrosa Atencio, will celebrate its world premiere as an official selection of Berlinale Generation 14plus at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival.
A poetic, politically resonant work that moves fluidly between dream, ritual, and prophecy, Jülapüin Yonna centers on Weinshi, a Wayuu girl whose name means “time.” Through her visions and her embodied relationship to the sacred Yonna dance, the film reframes Indigenous youth not as witnesses to loss, but as carriers of ancestral knowledge, healing, and future responsibility.
A Film That Dances With Memory and Earth
Set in La Guajira, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, Jülapüin Yonna unfolds against landscapes marked by wind, sea, desert, and by the unseen but pervasive presence of extractivism. Inspired by the arrival of the Cerréjon coal mine, the largest open-pit mine in the world, during the 1980s, the film bears witness to the long-term effects of dispossession, militarization, drought, poisoned soil, and environmental trauma inflicted upon the Wayuu people.
Rather than presenting these forces directly, Luzbeidy Monterrosa Atencio crafts a non-linear, sensorial cinema where time bends, grief reverberates across generations, and catastrophe is felt before it is named. Only later does a radio voice announce these incursions as “tiempos de progreso”, a bitterly ironic phrase that collides with the lived devastation of the land and its people.
Through dream sequences, choreographed movement, saturated color, poetic voice, and song, the film mourns the suffering of Woumainkat – Mother Earth. The Yonna dance emerges not as folklore but as a living language: a choreography of memory, resistance, and spiritual continuity that culminates in a final, ecstatic apotheosis of movement, water, and ancestral calling.
About the Director – Luzbeidy Monterrosa Atencio (Wayuu)
Luzbeidy Monterrosa Atencio is a Wayuu filmmaker, activist, and cultural organizer from La Guajira, Colombia. Her work focuses on Indigenous girls and women, land rights, memory, and territorial sovereignty, combining political clarity with a deeply lyrical cinematic voice.
Her debut feature, La danza del perdón (The Dance of Forgiveness), was selected for the Macondo Lab (Colombian Academy of Film, Gabo Foundation, and Netflix) and participated in the Impact in Production Residency (Suimanga Films / Vancouver International Film Festival) and the Desde la raíz Residency (Algo en Común). She is currently directing the documentary Akoyolowa – Covering the Soul, awarded the Colombian FDC development fund (2024) and selected for the Latin American Lab at the Morelia Film Festival.
Jülapüin Yonna received support from CNACC, Colombia’s national arts and film agency. Monterrosa Atencio has also co-directed Aipa’a – Yem (FICCI 2023) and Muu-Palaa (Netflix–FICCI Diversity Recognition, 2021).
Beyond filmmaking, she is the founder of the Shinyak Kashikai Association, a former member of the Indigenous Women’s Committee for CEDAW UN Recommendation No. 39, coordinator of the Wayuu Film and Video Showcase, and an active member of the Putchimajanaa Network, a respected Wayuu Indigenous communication collective in La Guajira.
Supported by the Indigenous Cinema Alliance and MULLU
Jülapüin Yonna (The Dream of Dance) is supported by the Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) and its Latin America partner organization MULLU.
The Indigenous Cinema Alliance (ICA) is a global network of Indigenous-led screen organizations working collaboratively to strengthen industry access, financing pathways, professional development, and international market visibility for Indigenous filmmakers. Active across major festivals and markets worldwide, ICA advocates for Indigenous sovereignty in storytelling and supports projects that reflect cultural specificity, artistic excellence, and self-determined narratives.
MULLU (Abya Yala / Latin America) is an Indigenous-led initiative amplifying Indigenous, Afro-descendant, and frontline voices across Latin America. Through multilingual distribution, co-production, and alternative access strategies, MULLU supports works rooted in land, language, and community, expanding pathways for Indigenous cinema beyond traditional industry models.
Screening Details
Berlinale Generation 14plus — Short Films 2
• Wednesday, February 18, 2026 — 12:30 PM | Urania, Berlin
• Thursday, February 19, 2026 — 7:15 PM | Cubix 6, Berlin
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