The opens Friday 鈥� and one of the more talked-about movies debuting there is "Parsley," which recalls a 20th-century genocide on the Dominican-Haitian border. Its director spoke with SA国际传谋 about a film that鈥檚 likely to resonate with audiences today.
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The title ("Perejil" in Spanish) is from the 1937 Parsley Massacre 鈥� when the Dominican Republic鈥檚 brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo ordered as many as 20,000 Black Haitian-Dominicans killed. Trujillo remarked that he wanted to 鈥渨hiten鈥� his country, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
鈥淧arsley,鈥� a Dominican-Haitian production, tells the fictional story of a Dominican man, Frank, and his pregnant Haitian wife, Marie, trapped in that actual genocide. The film's Dominican director, Jos茅 Mar铆a Cabral, calls it one of history鈥檚 worst racist massacres.
鈥淭rujillo was a guy who actually used white powder as makeup," said Cabral. "So we鈥檙e talking about this guy who wanted to erase everything that was from Black culture or African descent.
"And I hope the film makes us see the horror of racism and xenophobia.鈥�
Cabral agrees his film comes at a relevant moment. Not only because in recent years the Dominican Republic has enacted laws targeted at Haitians in the country that are widely decried as racist 鈥� including a constitutional reform that stripped millions of Haitian-Dominicans of citizenship 鈥� or that it鈥檚 now building a wall along its border with Haiti. But also because xenophobia is erupting around the world, from the U.S. southern border to South America, and from Eastern Europe to Southeast Asia.
鈥淔or me it鈥檚 a story about a family," Cabral said of his film. "It鈥檚 this community and how, because of things that they do not control, they were separated and things ended up tragically.
"I just want people to empathize with this human story.鈥�
鈥淧arsley鈥� will debut at the Miami Film Festival on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at in Miami, and it will be streamed online from March 8 to March 10. The festival runs through March 13.
