Mariano is a 13-year-old boy who was born with a cleft lip and palate in a very poor town in the Mexican state of Chiapas. His family never had sufficient financial resources to provide him with the necessary medical treatment, which includes extensive reconstructive plastic surgery, speech therapy, psychological and nutritional counseling, and dental treatment.

 

We transferred Mariano to Mexico City to receive the reconstructive plastic surgery he required on his face and palate, free of charge, in a highly specialized general hospital.

 

"Bitten by the Moon" will be a documentary film based on the life of Mariano, and will focus, openly and critically, on the problem that this condition represents. His pre and postoperative state will be filmed, especially the way Mariano's life will change after he returns home.

 

The documentary is being produced by two brothers, Fernanda and Rodrigo Morales De la Cerda, who combine their talents and professions (film and medicine, respectively), to achieve a unique project in which the surgical treatment was provided to a child in a vulnerable situation and, simultaneously, a film is being generated whose purpose will be to raise awareness about a public health problem worldwide: the cleft lip and palate, as well as the reality faced by those who do not have access to specialized medicine in developing countries.