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
Keywords
Drama,racism,LATAM,class conflict,murder,family,social issues,class issues,economic issues,love,friendship,afro latin america,black latin america,afro latino,afro latinx,afro latina,black latino,black latinx,black latina,afro latin,afro-americanism,afro-brazilian,afro-cuban,afro-haitian,afro-colombian,afro-dominican,afro-mexican,afro-puertorican,afro-honduran,afro-bolivian,afro-argentinian,afro-chilean,afro-peruvian,afro-nicauraguan,afro-guatemalan,afro-caribbean,diaspora,slave trade,caribbean studies,the caribbean,caribeean sea,caribbean island,antigua and barbuda,bahamas,barbados,cuba,dominica,dominican republic,grenada,haiti,jamaica,saint kitts and nevis,st lucia,st vincent and the grenadines,and trinidad and tobago,anguilla,aruba,british virgin islands,caribbean netherlands,bonaire,sint eustatius,saba,cayman islands,curaçao,guadeloupe,martinique,montserrat,puerto rico,saint barthélemy,saint martin/sint maarten,turks and caicos islands,us virgin islands,economics,social class,money,capital,capitalism,class,economy,prejudice,intersectionality,inequality,poverty,income gap,wage gap,class warfare,elitism,snobbery,bourgeois,poverty,upper class,middle class,lower class,nouveau riche,racism,discrimination,prejudice,ethnicity,ethnic,race studies,ethnic studies,racist,racial sensitivity,bias,prejudice,racial prejudice,ethnic prejudice,genetics,hereditary,culture,ethnic culture,ethnology,ethnography,ethnic sensitivity,family,kin,fellowship,household,immediate family,extended family,multigenerational family,multigenerational household,kinfolk,family tree,genealogy,nuclear family,modern family,family tree,criminal justice,crime,judiciary,police reform,corrections,criminal law,judicial system,justice department,prosecution,judgement,criminal law,courts and corrections,corrections institutes,labor studies,employment studies,workers rights,workers’ rights,organizing,labor unions,trade unions,unions,industry,employment law,working class,labor rights,labor equity,employment,union organizing,labor organizing,labor rights movements,employment rights movements,workers’ rights movement,workers rights movements,women,womanhood,gender,girl,girlhood,mother,motherhood,female,cis woman,cis female,trans woman,trans female,women’s rights,women’s issues,lady,ladies,gentlewoman,madame,miss,missus,mrs.,dame,damsel,ingenue,lass,maid,maiden,belle,gal,ladyfriend,girlfriend,dear,darling,widow,matron,dowager,gender,gender equality,gender pay gap,women’s liberation,women’s rights,economics,social class,money,capital,capitalism,class,economy,prejudice,intersectionality,inequality,poverty,income gap,wage gap,class warfare,elitism,snobbery,bourgeois,poverty,upper class,middle class,lower class,nouveau riche,central america,honduras,costa rica,guatemala,belize,el salvador,nicaragua,panama,america central,mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot,central america volcanic arc,centroamérica,panama canal,Carajita,carajita ; "Carajita "; Pragda Films
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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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