Carajita, from the Dominican Republic and Argentina, is a drama about Sarah (Cecile van Welie), her nanny Yarisa (Magnolia Nunez), and Yarisa’s daughter Mallory (Adelanny Padilla).
Directed by Ulises Porra and Silvina Schnicer from their screenplay with Ulla Prida, Carajita explores the very close relationship between Sarah and Yarisa, who are almost like daughter and mother.
Transcending their class conditions and even creating conflict with Yarisa’s daughter Mallory, who feels left out and jealous, Sarah and Yarisa find their love and loyalty tested in the aftermath of an accident.
Asked in an interview what inspired them to make the intimate drama, the co-directors stated: “The original idea came from Ulla Prida, the producer and one of the film’s screenwriters. She is Dominican and, like many Dominicans, grew up being taken care of by a nanny. At a certain point, she began to wonder about the bonds that were established between the nannies and the children they are in charge of.”
The two directors were also interested in the bigger story contained in Ulla’s original idea: “She wanted to explore the power dynamics so ingrained in her society that they almost go unnoticed, as the established order and the internal struggles we all face when it comes to doing the right thing.”
The two co-directors talked about the hurdles in making their joint sophomore feature: “The main challenge was having to interpret and speak on behalf of a culture that is not ours, since we are an Argentinean (Schnicer) and a Spaniard (Porra). With the help of Ulla and part of the crew, we set out to soak ourselves in the Dominican culture. We focused on understanding their daily life, their way of speaking, laughing, being sad, and dreaming.” The daily interaction with the main actresses helped the directors tremendously.
Then they added: “In short, what we did was to try to understand as much as possible and with enough humility to then develop our project with confidence. At the production level, the great challenge of Carajita was having to face an eight-month break in shooting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
As to what they hope audiences will get after watching the movie, they answered, “We want the audience to be left in a state of shock, no doubt. Carajita is a drama that seeks to imprint a final feeling of uneasiness. It doesn’t give you everything chewed up. The viewers have to do their part, fill in some spaces, which then opens the door to ask questions for themselves. The last shot also has symbolic content that is open to interpretation.” And added, “It’s important that, when the theater light is turned on and we leave the room, the thinking persists.”