New York Welcomes Profound and Revealing Nana Documentary During GFDD’s Dominican Film Showcase

In the second event in this year’s Dominican Film Showcase, a Big Apple audience enjoyed the documentary feature Nana and a discussion with its director Tatiana Fernández Geara, who traveled from the Dominican Republic to share her thoughts and impressions on this deep and revealing documentary on the emotional links between nannies and the children they care for.

This directorial debut from Fernández was screened on Friday,
November 18, at Symphony Space to an enthusiastic audience. In her words of welcome, GFDD New York director Yamile Eusebio highlighted how this initiative contributes to supporting Dominican filmmaking and cultivating appreciation for the island’s culture. She stressed the importance of continuing this sort of work in support of Dominican cinema.

The film moved the audience to laughter and tears with its images of the Dominican Republic and its customs. Moving between rural and urban settings, the movie delves into the conflicts faced by live-in nannies, part of a chain of love where maternal
figures are substituted and duplicated and strong links are forged between children and their nannies, as well as the nannies’ children and the grandmothers and aunts who raise them.

In the discussion after the screening, Tatiana Fernández Geara commented that the documentary was filmed between San Juan, San Cristóbal, and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and Miami in the United States, and that despite having worked alone on this long and difficult
project, “it’s enormously gratifying to be able to see the audience’s reaction and know that it’s delivered a good message.”

Fernández – who began researching the issue of domestic workers during a Fulbright residency at the University of Missouri while finished her master’s in photojournalism – thanked GFDD for the opportunity and said that the documentary had allowed her to gain a new perspective on the issue,
emphasizing the importance of raising public awareness. Finally, she expressed pride that the documentary had stayed in cinemas in the Dominican Republic for a full seven weeks and won awards like Best Feature.

One attendee stressed how much she had enjoyed the documentary given the topicality and importance of the issue to the lives of many Dominicans, dubbing the film “very emotional and exciting.” Another guest highlighted the importance of
strengthening education in the least-developed areas to avoid the cycle portrayed so clearly in the documentary. Finally, another guest commented that she would recommend that this documentary be screened again so people can learn about the reality of the situation of domestic workers and nannies in Latin America and the Caribbean, as in general both sides of the coin tend not to be portrayed.

About the Dominican Film Showcase
The
Dominican Film Showcase aims to facilitate the enrichment of film culture in the Dominican Republic and introduce its movie productions to a broader audience. It also uses the seventh art at a platform for debate and a medium for raising social awareness and promoting constructive change while introducing the issues of historical and cultural importance to the Dominican community internationally and cultivating Dominican filmmaking talent. With the Dominican Film Showcase,
GFDD/Funglode’s objective is to present the best recent films from the Dominican Republic by Dominican filmmakers on Dominican issues, with the intention of capturing a full and positive vision of the country.

For more information:
www.dominicanfilmshowcase.org