DÓLARES DE ARENA

GERALDINE CHAPLIN

A FILM BY

LAURA AMELIA GUZMÁN ISRAEL CÁRDENAS

SAND DOLLARS

WITH THE SUPPORT OF:PRODUCED BY:

aurora dominicana

The film is a very free adaptation of the novel

Les dollars des sables, using elements that

contribute to create an atmosphere, Anne

and Noeli’s intimate world: an impossible

relationship, concern for one another and

loneliness.

Noelí is a girl who has thoughtlessly been

prostituting herself for a long time, who

dreams of leaving the island and going

somewhere in Europe to have a better future.

Anne is a migrant in the opposite direction,

from France to the Dominican Republic,

looking for pleasure, relaxation and to forget,

instead of looking for work.

Contradictions as having to pay for company,

to pay to solve everyone’s problems, the wish

to belong, to be helpful and useful, and the

impotence of not knowing how and to always

feel like an outsider. Of assuming a place, a

life or going after a distant illusion.

Sand Dollars was born from our wish to

portray a world full of contradictions,

contradictions that go from parties

and vacations, to love, betrayal, pleasure,

morality and loneliness. This is the world

that emerges from the book Les dollars des

sables written by the French author, Jean-

Noël Pancrazi; that world is, in a certain way,

Las Terrenas: the town where we previously

filmed Jean Gentil, a place where Domini-

cans from the countryside coexist with other

Dominicans from the capital, and also with

a group of Europeans that have lived there

for years, some of them even considered as

founders of this new life here.

DIREC-TOR’S NOTE

Every afternoon Noelí, a young Domi-

nican girl, goes to the beaches at Las

Terrenas. Along with her boyfriend,

they look for ways to make a living at the ex-

pense of one of the hundreds of tourists that

wander the beach.

As people parade through her life, Noelí has

a steady client, a mature French woman who,

as time goes by, has found an ideal refuge on

the island to spend her last years.

Noelí’s boyfriend feigns to be her brother and

outlines a plan in which Noelí travels to Paris

with the old lady and sends him money every

month.

For Noelí, the relationship with the old lady is

one of convenience, but the feelings become

more intense as the departure date closes in.

SYNOPSIS

BIO

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Re-

public on May 7th 1980, Laura Amelia

Guzmán graduated from Altos de

Chavón / The School of Design, where she

studied fine arts and photography. After ex-

hibiting in photography shows, she attended

the International Film and Television School

in Cuba, specializing in cinematography.

After working in several features, she moves

to Mexico. Since 2004, she has lived between

Mexico and the Dominican Republic working

with her husband Israel Cárdenas, with whom

she shares script, photography, production

and direction credits in their feature films.

Together they run the production company

Aurora Dominicana.

Israel Cárdenas (Mexico, 1980) is a self-

taught filmmaker who started out his career

in musical videoclip productions and some

film workshops at NYFA and EICTV. He

worked as camera assistant and second unit

camera in some projects before shooting in

2006 his first feature as co-director, script-

writer, photographer, producer and editor.

Sand Dollars is his fourth feature.

Besides his work as director, he has collab-

orated in various features as co-scriptwriter

(Los Últimos Cristeros, directed by Matías

Meyer, Mexico 2012), director of photography

(Cumbres, directed by Gabriel Nuncio) and

producer (Ocaso, directed by Theo Court,

Cumbres, Mañana Psicotrópica directed by

Alexandro Aldrete). In 2013 he establishes

Rayo Verde Post, image post-production

studio in the Dominican Republic.

FILMOGRAPHY

Cochochi 2007/ 87 min / Drama

Jean Gentil 2010/ 85 min / Drama

Carmita 2013/ 75 min / Documentary

LAURA AMELIA GUZMÁNISRAEL CÁRDENAS Directors / Producers

COCHOCHI (2007)

Awards and recognitions:

Discovery award, Toronto Intl. FF

Jury award, Toulouse FF

Jury award, Valdivia FF

Best Feature, Gramado FF

Best Feature, Miami Intl. FF

Fipresci awards at Gijón and Toulouse FF

Nominated for the Ariel for Best First Feature

and Best Script

www.cochochi.com.mx

JEAN GENTIL (2010)

Awards and recognitions:

Jury’s Special Mention, Venice FF (Orizzonti)

Bronze Alexander, Thessaloniki Intl. FF

Best Script Award, Miami Intl. FF

Jury’s special Prize, Guadalajara FF

Best Film Award, Palmas Gran Canaria FF

Grand Prize, Jeonju Intl. FF

Special Mention, Bafici

Best Feature, Cosquín FF

Best Film & Best Actor, Festivalissimo

Jury Award & Critics Award, Lima FF

Critics Award, Gramado FF

Best Director, Critic’s Award, Best Actor, Viña

del Mar Intl. FF

Best Feature, Trinidad & Tobago Intl. FF

Best Feature, Casandra Award, Dominican

Republic.

CARMITA (2013)

Festivals

Intl. Competition Ficunam

Trinidad & Tobago FF

RDoc Documentary FF of the

Dominican Republic

Cali International FF

Buenos Aires Documentary FF

Cinemigrante

Fine Arts FF

www.jeangentil.com

It’s been pure joy to learn, and a wonderful experience”

Geraldine Chaplin

GERALDINE CHAPLIN (US, 1944). Started

in David Lean’s adaptation of the epic love

story, Doctor Zhivago. Chaplin has enjoyed a

long and successful career in North America

with movies such as A Wedding, Welcome

to L.A., The Age of Innocence, Jane Eyre

and Robert Altman’s Nashville for which she

received a Golden Globe nomination. She

also played the role of her own grandmother

in Richard Attenborough’s biopic of her late

father, Chaplin, which starred Robert Downey

Jr. in the title role.

While she has made a name for herself in

North America, Chaplin continues to have

the most success overseas in Spanish and

French cinema. Fluent in both languages,

she has been a part of Spanish cinema for

decades with roles in Pedro Almodovar’s

Talk To Her and Jacques Rivette’s Love on

CAST

YANET MOJICA (Dominican Republic, 1993).

She lives in the town of Las Terrenas where

she is a dance instructor of salsa and denbow.

After an unexpected casting accompanied by

Geraldine Chaplin, she becomes a strong can-

didate to be the second lead of Sand Dollars.

After several months of rehearsals and work

before the camera, she wins the roll doing a

great job in her first feature film experience.

RICARDO ARIEL TORIBIO (Dominican

Republic, 1993). A professional musician and

self-taught artist, Ricardo has natural acting

skills. After doing some musical video clips,

his first feature film experience is in Sand

Dollars.

the Ground. She was also a close collabo-

rator of Carlos Saura with whom she had a

12-year relationship.

She won a Goya Award for Best Supporting

Actress for her role in the Argentine-Spanish

thriller, In the City Without Limits and received

a Goya nomination for Jose Antonio Bayona’s

The Orphanage. She reunited with Bayona

for the disaster film The Impossible starring

Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor.

Chaplin’s impressive contributions to Spanish

cinema earned her a Gold medal from the

Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinema-

tograficas de España.

Photography: Israel Cárdenas

Jaime Guerra

Editor: Andrea Kleinman S.A.E / E.D.A

Script collaborator: Alejandro Andújar

Art Director: Sylvia Conde

Wardrobe: Laura Guerrero

Sound designer: Alejandro De Icaza

Diego Gat

Sound mixer: Raúl Locatelli

Music: Ramón Cordero, Edilio Paredes

Musical Supervisor: IASO Records

Benjamin De Menil

Post Production: Rayo Verde Post

Israel Cárdenas

Jaime Guerra

Juanjo Cid

Carlo Reyes

Contact: produccion@auroradominicana.com

TECHNICAL INFO

Title: Dólares de Arena / Sand Dollars

Genre: Drama

Shooting format: 5K Anamorphic / Color

Screening format: DCP

Length: 85‘

Locations: Samaná, Dominican Republic

Languages: Spanish, English, French

Production companies: Aurora Dominicana

Canana, (Mexico), Rei Cine (Argentina)

FOPROCINE-Instituto Mexicano De Cinematografía (IMCINE)

Consejo Nacional Para La Cultura Y Las Artes (CONACULTA)

Production countries: Dominican Republic / Mexico / Argentina

With the support of: FONPROCINE-Dirección General de Cine, Rep. Dominicana

Programa Ibermedia

Instituto Nacional De Cine Y Artes Visuales (INCAA)

Banco BHD

Hubert Bals Fund

Written & Directed: Laura Amelia Guzmán & Israel Cárdenas

Based on the novel “Les Dollars des Sables”

by Jean-Noël Pancrazi, Gallimard Editions.

Producers: Laura Amelia Guzmán, Israel Cárdenas, Benjamín Domenech,

Santiago Gallelli, Matías Roveda, Pablo Cruz

Executive producers: Linel Hernández, Gabriel Tineo, Desirée Reyes

Associate producers: Mónica de Moya, Julián Levin, Eddy Guzmán,

Sylvia Conde & José Luis Cárdenas

Sales agent:

contact@figafilms.com