SAND DOLLARS

Las Terrenas, a resort on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. Noelí (Yanet Mojica) lives by entering into relationships with tourists that are called love and mean money. For three years Anne (Geraldine Chaplin) has been one of them, a Frenchwoman who has stayed in the country and fallen in love with the much younger woman – sincerely, and with no prospect that her affection will be returned in kind. Noelí has a boyfriend with whom she shares the money, and she talks of going to France with Anne’s help. “Sand Dollars” (Dólares de arena, Dominican Republic 2014) by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas is based on the novel by Jean-Noël Pancrazi.

Without passing judgement, the film observes a relationship whose inequality all involved are aware of; Chaplin’s Anne is no victim, Noelí no perpetrator. It premiered in September 2014 in Toronto in the Contemporary World Cinema section; FIPRESCI Prize at the Cairo festival; the Dominican Republic submitted it for the Foreign Language Oscar. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2015.

Shown at the 2015 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2015 · Film Archive