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A FILM BY LEONOR ZUNIGA
She accused the leader of the Sandinista revolution of sexual abuse. Now he is president of Nicaragua and she lives in exile.
LOGLINE
In 1998, Zoilamérica accused her adoptive father of rape and sexual abuse. Almost 20 years later, she lives in exile while caring for her 10-year-old son. Her adoptive father is Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista revolution and current president of Nicaragua.
S Y N O P S Y S
This 24 minutes documentary film explores the life of Zoilamérica Ortega Murillo, adoptive daughter of Daniel Ortega, leader of the Sandinista revolution and the current President of Nicaragua. The film reveals her struggle as a survivor of sexual abuse twenty years after she publicly accused Ortega of rape. We learn about her fate, her family and the impact of the accusation on her 10 years old son.
The film works in two time frames, the past, using archival footage, from the time Zoilamérica made her accusation in 1998, and the present, in 2016, when she is forced into exile in Costa Rica, as Daniel Ortega runs for the presidency for the fourth time with the
unconditional support of Rosario Murillo, Zoilamerica’s mother and Ortega’s running mate.
The film, mostly shot inside Zoilamérica’s home, delves into her exile as a form of physical and emotional isolation, which is imposed on her as punishment for daring to seek justice, confront her abuser, her family and the Sandinista party.
This is the first documentary about Zoilamerica’s story.
Director
Leonor Zúniga
Leonor Zúniga is a Sociologist, activist and Documentary Filmmaker, author of several publications on the field of media and democracy in Nicaragua. She holds a bachelor degree in Sociology from Universidad Centro Americana, a Master in Fine Arts in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship.
Leonor has worked on several documentaries: she was the executive producer of the feature Documentary Graduation Dreams (2016), and has Directed the short films, Docktown (2016), Trees of Life (2016) and Exiled (2017), a thesis film which was selected as semifinalist at the Student Oscars. She is co-founder and Creative Director of CaLe Producciones (2010-Today), a Nicaraguan production company which seeks to promote social change.
She recently became co-owner and producer of Cinema Regional, a production company that promotes the professionalization of the film industry in Nicaragua and the Central American Region. She was a speaker at TedxManagua 2013.
producer
Chris Renteria
Chris Renteria is an award-winning commercial and documentary filmmaker and photographer based in the midwest. Chris has produced and directed films focusing on the social and environmental challenges facing communities across America.
Magnolia Pictures’ WHOSE STREETS? by Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis was Renteria’s first foray as a producer into feature-length documentary films. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 and was nominated for a Critic’s Choice award, Gotham Award, and NAACP Image Award.
Renteria is currently producing Damon Davis' Chain of Rocks as well as Sabaah Folayan's next film Ratify - The Hundred Year War for Women’s Equality in America (2020).
Most recently, he served as cinematographer for STL Superman, which premiered and won Best Short Film at Big Sky Doc Film Festival 2019 and will screen at Hot Docs and Tribeca in 2019.