''Exiled'' ( es, Exiliada) is a 2019

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

documentary film directed by Leonor Zúniga. The film features interviews with

Zoilamérica Ortega Murillo Zoilamérica Ortega Murillo (née Narváez Murillo) (born November 13, 1967, in Managua) is a consultant for Comunidad Casabierta, an LGBTI rights organisation in Costa Rica. She is also a former member of the National Assembly of Nicaragua. In ...

, stepdaughter of the leader of the Sandinista Revolution and Nicaraguan President

Daniel Ortega José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguans, Nicaraguan revolutionary and politician serving as President of Nicaragua since 2007. Previously he was leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, first as coordinator of the ...

. In 1998 she accused him of sexually abusing her as a child; almost twenty years later, she lives in exile in

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

with her ten-year old son. The film takes place during Ortega's

electoral campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...

, as he seeks reelection and reaching power for the fourth time, and develops in two periods: the past, using archive footage when Zoilamérica made her accusation in 1998, and the present, in 2016, after being forced to live in exile.

Production

Zúniga wrestled with making the film, as it risked the possibility that she would also have to go into

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

. Ultimately she shot the film in secret in Costa Rica, using a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

to refer to Murillo during production.

Reception

The film was part of the Official Selection of the 2019 Hot Docs Festival. In ''La Prensa'', Cristiana Chamorro Barrios wrote that Zúniga “in a magical way, shows with art, there can be beauty in a dark tragedy. Her cameras manage to captivate us in a sordid story where the harshness of the events is told with the grace to get away from the morbid to give the victim dignity without revictimizing her.”

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website

at Film Affinity 2019 films 2019 documentary films Child sexual abuse in Nicaragua Documentary films about women Documentary films about violence against women Nicaraguan documentary films