Join us for the second installment of Films at the Whitney’s Fall 2024 screening series, World Documentaries Today!

Nearly one in five teenage girls in the Dominican Republic is a mother. This is the subject of the fictional drama that filmmaker Victoria Linares Villegas originally set out to make. But when lead actress Camila Santana struggles to relate to her character—a pregnant teenaged runaway and aspiring telenovela star—she begins interviewing teenage girls about their own experiences of pregnancy and motherhood. Initially, the interviews reveal just how challenging it is to break the cycle of teenage pregnancy, but as the conversations progress, the girls not only tell their stories, but also give their opinions on the type of clothing and makeup the main character should wear and the credibility of scenes. Over time, the filming process offers the girls, many of whom have given up a sense of their youth to care for their families, a renewed opportunity to play. They take control of their stories through fiction and assume ownership of the scenes that recount their own stories.

Directed by Victoria Linares Villegas. Country: Dominican Republic. 82 min. Spanish with English subtitles.