Carajita
(Carajita)
Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra | Fiction, Drama
2021 | 89 minutes | Dominican Republic, Argentina
Sara and her nanny Yarisa have a relationship that transcends class and race: they are close to a daughter-mother; but an accident will test their intimate loyalty.
Synopsis
Featuring striking cinematography and outstanding performances, Carajita (which means annoying child) explores the tenuous relationship that exists between race, class, and family.
Sarah, the pampered daughter of a corrupt oligarch whose family recently relocated to Las Terrenas, thinks of her Black Dominican nanny, Yarisa, as “part of the family.” The two have a “mother-daughter-like” relationship that transcends their social standing. That illusion is put to the test when Yarisa’s spirited daughter Mallory goes missing, challenging Sarah’s naïve beliefs.
Boasting intuitive storytelling and confident direction, Carajita plays like a psychological thriller, deriving oppressive tension from unspoken inequalities and the impunity of privilege.
* Spanish language audio description is available via the ALL4ACCESS App and/or .wav file when purchasing a DSL license.
Accessibility for these films was created by DICAPTA and funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education- Office of Special Education-OSEP, project “Enhanced Access to Video for Students with Sensory Disabilities through Emerging Technology,” TV Access H327C210001.
Reviews
"A gorgeous and compelling enigmatic drama. The agonies of the Caribbean’s colonial legacy are examined with aesthetic elegance and unsettling elusiveness in Carajita, a film that couldn’t be more timely in the Black Lives Matter era." - Jonathan Romney, Screen Daily
"A Latin ‘Parasite’. Carajita starts strong, unfolds at the speed of gunpowder, and ends with a tremendous final explosion. Taking the viewer’s breath away with its opening scene (literally), Argentine filmmaker Silvina Schnicer and Catalan Ulises Porra raise the bar of their brilliant mastery even higher." - Carlos Loureda, Fotogramas
"The overwhelming visual work seeks to restore dignity to the lower class through the epic, and its metaphors also highlight the injustices on which the privileges of the rich are built."- Jonay Armas, Caimán CDC
“The title of this powerful film refers to an annoying child or, in a less usual way, to adults who behave like children. Carajita joins its definition to a narration crossed by the economic, social and cultural asymmetries represented by the intramural relationship with the domestic service.” – Pablo De Vita, LA NACION
Citation
Main credits
Schnicer, Silvina (film director)
Schnicer, Silvina (screenwriter)
Porra, Ulises (film producer)
Porra, Ulises (screenwriter)
Guerrero, Alexandra (film producer)
Prida, Ulla (film producer)
Welie, Cecilia van (actor)
Núñez, Magnolia (actor)
Other credits
Cinematography, Iván Gierasinchuk; editing, Ulises Porra, Delfina Castagnino; music, Andrés Rodríguez.
Citation
Cataloging
Pragda subjects
Caribbean Studies
Central America
Criminal Justice
Economics + Social Class Issues
Family
Labor Studies
Race + Ethnicity
Women
Keywords
Clips
Festivals
San Sebastian International Film Festival; Zurich Film Festival; Mar del Plata International Film Festival; Miami Film Festival; Guadalajara International Film Festival; Tribeca Film Festival; Filmfestival Kitzbühel; Seoul International Women’s Film Festival; New York Latino Film Festival; AFI Latin American Film Festival; Belfast Film Festival; Havana Festival of New Latin American Cinema
DIRECTOR: Silvina Schnicer, Ulises Porra
NATIONALITY: Dominican Republic, Argentina
YEAR: 2021
GENRE: Fiction, Drama
LANGUAGE: Spanish
COLOR / B&W: Color
GRADE LEVEL: High School, College, Adult
SUBTITLE/CC: AVAILABLE
AUDIO DESCRIPTION: AVAILABLE
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