Elena
8.3
In 1937, tens of thousands of Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent were exterminated by the Dominican army, on the basis of anti-black racism. Fast-forward to 2013, the Dominican Republic's Supreme Court stripped the citizenship of anyone with Haitian parents, retroactive to 1929, rendering more than 200,000 people stateless. Elena, the young protagonist of the film, and her family stand to lose their legal residency in the Dominican Republic if they don't manage to get their documents in time. Negotiating a mountain of opaque bureaucratic processes and a racist, hostile society around, Elena becomes the face of the struggle to remain in a country built on the labor of her father and forefathers.
Your rating
Your review
Michèle Stephenson Director
United States release August 7, 2021 · Produced in Dominican Republic, United States · Languages Haitian Creole, Spanish
Production
In The Cut Films
Production
Hispaniola Productions
Production
Rada Studio
Production
Dominican Republic · United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
Spanish
Spoken on screen
Haitian Creole · Spanish
Release dates
United States · June 4, 2021
Premiere · Philadelphia Latino Film Festival (online)
United States · August 7, 2021
Digital · BlackStar Film Festival
More from Michèle Stephenson
Other films they directed, best known first.
If you liked Elena
Picks that share its genres, themes, cast and crew.
