Sunrise Ceremony

Sunrise Ceremony is a short documentary focusing on the Apache Sunrise Ceremony – a rite-of-passage tradition where girls transition into womanhood and are recognized as adult women by the tribe.

For the Mescalero Apache Tribe, girls are not recognized as women until they have undergone the Sunrise Ceremony- an ancient, coming-of-age ceremony that lasts for four days.

The documentary filmmakers got rare access to the ceremony for Julene Geronimo – the great, great grand-daughter of the renowned Apache leader, Geronimo.

Sunrise Ceremony follows Julene through each day of her arduous rite-of-passage to better understand what womanhood means for the Apache tribe, and how these ceremonies play a significant role in preserving a way of life that almost became extinct.