Berlin-based ArtHood Entertainment has acquired worldwide sales rights to the Dominican drama “No salgas” (“Stay Quiet”) ahead of the Berlinale Generation’s premiere.
Starring Camila Issa (Nickelodeon’s “I’m Afraid of the Dark”), Cecile Van Wery (San Sebastian Best New Director winner “Calajita”), and Camila Santana (“Ramona”), this queer coming-of-age horror film follows Liz (Van Wery), a medical student struggling with her sexual identity in the ultra-conservative Dominican Republic. Evil supernatural forces begin targeting people close to her.
The story begins with two teenagers running away at night and one of them being killed by his possessed mother. Liz secretly loves Wendy, but Wendy is killed by her crazy brother. A year later, the power turns the friends violently, and their sadness and desire resurface during a commemorative trip. Liz runs away, knowing that what has been unleashed is not completely destroyed.
No salgas is the feature directorial debut of Victoria Linares, best known for her neorealist docu-fiction hybrid Ramona, which had its world premiere at the Berlinale’s Generation Sidebar. The film won the Grand Prix Documentary Award at Cinelatino 2024 and has landed on the indie streaming platform Mubi.
“The dynamics of coexistence and power have always favored a heteronormative society. The Dominican Republic is deeply conservative, and this only highlights the inappropriateness of the concept of ‘alliance’. In ‘No Salga’ this concept is more performative than supportive, and often stems from reflexive tolerance rather than from genuine understanding,” Linares said in a director’s statement. “While allies may demonstrate understanding, they may contribute to a repressive social environment out of ignorance.”
“We are really excited to be working on ‘No Sargas’. It’s not what we expected from ‘Generation’ and it was a memorable film that stuck with us for a while after watching it. Victoria is a very talented director with a bright future ahead of her and we are excited to work with her on powerful and captivating films. , she has managed to combine artistic qualities with festival and commercial potential. She is very clever in using horror to detail conservative Dominican society. This is definitely a must-see film at the Berlinale. It is entertaining, relevant and universal. Arthood’s Manola Novelli.
The LGBTQ-themed horror picture is reminiscent of Jayro Bustamante’s “La Llorona,” a similar Latin American film that employed the horror genre to comment on social reality. In this acclaimed Guatemalan drama, Bustamante weaves fictional horror formats to shed light on the atrocities committed by the local military in the 1980s.
“No salgas” is produced by screenwriters and producers Carlos Marangini, Jose Jimenez and Linares. Dominican Republic-based production company El Perro de Argento, founded by Linares and Carlos Marangini, holds distribution rights to the Dominican Republic.
